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University of Iowa reinstates religious groups following lawsuit by Christian student group: lawyers

Temporary reprieve for Sikhs, Muslims and Christians

When a judge forced the University of Iowa to recognize a Christian student group on the same terms that it recognized a Muslim student group, the university balked.

It derecognized more than three dozen religious student groups that didn’t explicitly allow students outside their faith to serve in leadership positions, including the Muslim club.

Following a new lawsuit by a different Christian student group, InterVarsity, in response to its sudden derecognition, the taxpayer-funded institution has allegedly relented, at least temporarily.

InterVarsity’s lawyers at the Becket firm said Monday that the university agreed to reinstate its clients and the other religious clubs caught in the middle, “including Sikh, Muslim, and other Christian groups.”

The reinstatement is conditioned on the continuation of the litigation, according to Becket. That means if its clients lose, InterVarsity and the other clubs will be derecognized again.

A Becket spokesperson told The College Fix that he couldn’t forward the university’s email announcing the reinstatement of the clubs at this time. University media relations did not immediately respond to an email from The Fix seeking to confirm Becket’s statement.

Daniel Blomberg, Becket senior counsel, said the “temporary patch” by the university corrects the injustice that occurs when “state officials pick who leads students in prayer and worship.”

Read the statement.

IMAGE: Elena Elisseeva/Shutterstock

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