Posted on 11/27/2005 12:16:08 AM PST by seastay
LOS ANGELES – The college plans of six students at a Murietta school have sparked a lawsuit that could have implications for academia nationwide. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, contends that officials with the University of California system discriminated against students from Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murietta when they decided that some of the school's religious-viewpoint courses – such as "Christianity's Influence on American History" – do not meet the UC system's admissions standards.
The complaint, pushed by the Association of Christian Schools International, alleges the university's decision violates the First Amendment religious-practice rights of the students, including two who plan to attend UC San Diego.
A Dec. 12 hearing has been set on a request by UC lawyers to dismiss the complaint.
The case is being closely tracked by free speech advocates, public educators and Christian leaders who are concerned about the impact the case could have on state school admissions policies and the ability of some Christian schools to teach their core beliefs.
The lawsuit "is one piece of the culture war that is ongoing in our country for a number of years," said Robert Tyler, who represents the students and heads the group Advocates for Faith and Freedom. "It's important for our clients to take a stand at this time to prevent the intolerance of the UC and to prevent them from attempting to secularize private Christian schools."
"This appears to be coming in as the first wave in an assault," said Barmak Nassirian, an official with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, who sees the lawsuit as an effort by a special interest group to improperly shape admissions requirements.
UC lawyers say Calvary Chapel students are free to study as they choose, but they still must take courses approved by the university system – or alternately take an SAT subject test – to gain admission to one of the UC's 10 campuses.
Christopher Patti, a UC lawyer, said that in the last four years, 32 students from Calvary Chapel have applied for UC schools, and 24 were admitted.
The lawsuit "has more to do with the university's ability to set admissions standards than it does with the plaintiffs' ability to teach what they want," Patti said. "We don't try to limit what they teach."
Lawyers for the plaintiffs contend this dispute came up two years ago when UC admissions officials began closely examining Calvary Chapel's courses and texts that emphasized Christianity. Among the rejected courses were biology classes with texts by A Beka Book and Bob Jones University Press, both conservative Christian publishers. Courses titled "Special Providence: American Government," and "Christianity and Morality in American Literature," were also rejected.
The lawsuit argues it is unfair these courses were nixed while others titled "Western Civilization: The Jewish Experience," and "Intro to Buddhism," were approved.
Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at Virginia-based First Amendment Center at the Freedom Forum, said the supporters might have a valid complaint.
"I think the university has the right to require entering students to have a foundation on the subjects the university thinks help provide a preparation for higher education," he said "But I think the schools have a point when they say other courses from other institutions are allowed in, but when a course has 'Christian' in the title it seems to raise a red flag."
Patti said of the roughly 1,000 courses submitted for approval every year, 15 percent are rejected for reasons such as lacking proper content or being too narrowly focused.
It is the Calvary Chapel's biology courses that have sparked the most debate.
Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, which fights attempts to teach intelligent design and creationism as science in public schools, called the biology texts used by the school "unabashedly creationist" books that explain evolution in a confusing manner. Creationism is the belief that God created the universe and all life.
Branch noted that the preface of the Bob Jones University's biology textbook states: "If conclusions contradict the word of God, the conclusions are wrong no matter how many scientific facts may appear to back them."
"I don't think the UC is insisting that incoming students accept evolution," Branch said. "They want them to have a good understanding of it. That's the purpose of education, to impart understanding."
But plaintiff lawyer Wendell Bird, who argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1987 Louisiana case dealing with creationist instruction in public schools, said it is wrong to interpret the lawsuit solely as a fight over creationism.
"This case would exist even if the science course had been accepted" by UC admissions officials, he said, noting other courses were also rejected.
Nassirian said he sees the lawsuit's proponents as attempting to win an academic debate outside the academic world.
"You cannot get a victory in court on science, as Galileo learned," he said.
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Sunday Morning Fundamentalist Placemarker
I can't see this lawsuit going very far. Both sides are clearly posturing. But it will be hard to claim discrimination when the history of admission is 75% and the standards are not designed to impact any particular school. The University has a right to make admission standards, not a court.
It will be interesting to watch, with the activist California courts, though. My guess is that the Calvary kids are out of luck.
I think it's the parents that have made the mistake and now they want the courts to fix it.
So they should just take the SAT. What's the problem?
All good questions. As usual, the truth will ooze out at a later date. Both sides are posturing, but the University's case is clearly on a sounder footing.
My kids are grown and gone, and I'd really like to do what you suggest.
How do I go about it?
"So they should just take the SAT. What's the problem?"
Now you get to the real point of the suit - to force the public Universities in California to accept Creation Biology, and other stuff as equivalent to real Biology and other stuff. Another, more subtle, wedge into the classroom.
If the suit is successful, then the Creos will argue "See, even the UC (one of the most liberal) system accepts the teaching of Creationism, so why not teach it in the public schools. The suit is a trial balloon in a search for other strategies.
But teaching creationist biology should not be accepted. Allowing students into UC who will undoubtedly spread their faith centered doubts about the veracity of science education just shouldn't be done. It would bring into question the validity of a degree from UC, and hurt other students.
In the sciences, the situation is less bad, since science is very objective. Bur ourside the sciences, things are going from bad to worse. All the courses should be titled "indoctrination into ....".
It is the parent's duty to provide the best they can for their kids. The problem is that a degree form Joe's Bible College just doesn't carry much weight in the real world.
What about the opportunity to do a little deprogramming?
How is a creationist course in biology going to handle bioinformatics? An evolutionary biology course is going to compare genomes across species by invoking divergence from a common ancestor. A creationist course is not. But the genomes make no sense except from an evolutionary perspective.
Sorry nutcases, but the lawsuit isn't just about your favorite boogeyman, ID - it helps sometimes to read the article and have an idea what you are talking about. But it is also nice you see y'all side with the libs again. In fact, earlier articles about this gave short mention to ID which makes me think it is being used as a strawman to justify this discrimination.
I am sure the public Universities in California are already accept the teaching of Creation Biology, it is just those classes are not suitable for admission to the university.
Have you ever checked the courses being offered at universities these days! Just about anything goes, if the scholastic standards for writing are there: Murder 101, Pop Music 101, Elvis just left the Building 101, Sociology 101: Marriage and the Family, Kissing 101, etc, etc. I am sure if a Creationist writes their views in a paper for a Philosophy of Religion class, with high enough writing skills, they will get an A, just as an evolutionist would.
I think this lawsuit is just another cheap publicity stunt to get the topic in the news. Those dorks that need 5 courses of remedial biology before they can meet minimum science requirements are just going to be a burden to the University. I know the University of WA is starting to impose penalties on students who don't complete their degree in 4 years.
This is all B.S. The Public Schools are a disaster in California and most other states as well. The Private School graduates are much better prepared than most Public school grads. The same thing goes for home schoolers.
And BTW, these Christians pay extremely high taxes to pay for these "colleges" (Government Indoctrination Centers) just like everyone else.
They don't have any problem admitting semi literate affirmative action students so what's the problem here?
Affirmative action was overturned. Where have you been?
Just because a university is socially liberal (libertarian) in that it thrives on diversity and acceptance, doesn't mean it is necessarily politically liberal. You have some of the most politically conservative students attending as well, especially in Southern CA.
Whoops!
Not that I disagree--Sociologists are just Anthropologists who couldn't find the right classroom that first day and never did figure out the difference.
(Now that should start something...)
That's funny! You're right. I took a social anthropology class where they couldn't figure out the difference either!
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