Boston Globe - Group’s faith rule stirs clash at Tufts University Debate centers on freedom, bias

By Peter Schworm and Katherine Landergan, BostonGlobe.com

In a collision between religious freedom and nondiscrimination codes, Tufts University is considering whether an evangelical Christian student group should be stripped of its official status for requiring that its leaders adhere to the faith, saying it violates school policies against religious discrimination. . . .

Colleges say they can’t abide such discrimination, and that religious beliefs cannot excuse it. But critics say the policies unfairly target religious groups and reveal hostility to evangelical beliefs.

“It’s an absurd level of mandated openness that actually diminishes diversity,” said David French, a senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice who has represented campus groups in dozens of similar cases. “It’s utterly antithetical to free expression.”. . .

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