By Katlin Sweeney

Editor-in-Chief

Christian based org. InterVarsity has been derecognized as a student org. on all 23 CSU system campuses based on their constitution’s mandate that a student must be of the Christian faith in order to become a chapter leader.

InterVarsity is a student Christian group that originates in late nineteenth century England and became prevalent in the United States as of the late 1930s. It is present on multiple college campuses, working to lead small-group Bible studies, introducing students to the Christian faith and collaborating with other student orgs. to support various social justice causes. InterVarsity has been present for decades on various CSU campuses, having been at CSU Fresno for 40 years prior to derecognition.

On Dec. 21, 2011, former CSU System Chancellor Charles B. Reed signed Executive Order 1068, a memorandum that prohibits campus recognition of student orgs. that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation or disability.

“No campus shall recognize any fraternity, sorority, living group, honor society, or other student organization unless its membership and leadership are open to all currently enrolled students at that campus,” the memorandum said. “Except that a social fraternity or sorority or other university living group may impose a gender limitation as permitted by Title 5, California Code of Regulations, Section 41500.”

Under Executive Order 1068, student orgs. are permitted to require that potential leaders have been members of the group for a certain period of time and/or be elected into these positions. If a group did not comply with these guidelines, their respective campus would review their constitution and possibly derecognize them as a student org.

In InterVarsity’s constitution, which is utilized by the CSUSM chapter, Article V Section 3 requires the Christian faith as part of the criteria for the student leader position.

“Leadership of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at California State University San Marcos involves significant spiritual commitment,” the InterVarsity Chapter Constitution said. “Chapter leaders are expected to indicate their agreement with InterVarsity’s Doctrine and Purpose Statements and exemplify Christ-like character, conduct and leadership (c.f. the following relevant passages: 1 Peter 5:1-7; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Galatians 5:19-26; and 1 Corinthians 6:7-11).”

Due to the faith-based requirements for student leaders, InterVarsity was officially derecognized as a student org. back in 2012. However, Chancellor Timothy P. White, who became the CSU System Chancellor in Oct. 2012, granted InterVarsity a moratorium for the 2013 to 2014 academic year. This allowed religious orgs. to resubmit their constitutions and bylaws with adjusted language for review. If orgs. did not adjust their requirements to reflect Executive Order 1068’s mandate for nondiscriminatory practices, they would officially be derecognized.

While they reviewed their constitution during this time frame, the CSUSM InterVarsity chapter decided against revising the section of their constitution that presented problems with the memorandum passed by Reed. This prompted a derecognition letter from CSUSM’s Student Life & Leadership program on Oct. 8, 2014.

InterVarsity Chapter President at CSUSM, Garrett Hatch, said that while leaders are required to be members of the Christian faith, membership is open to anyone that is interested in learning more about Christianity or wanting to join a close-knit student org.

“I make the comparison that we require the President to have a certain background, and in certain levels, they are allowed to discriminate,” Hatch said. “It’s a Biblical requirement that our leaders be Christian, so I don’t think that it should be considered discriminatory if it is a faith background.”

The CSUSM chapter of InterVarsity has been extremely active on campus for the past 18 years, serving students in a multidimensional fashion. The org. offers a diverse range of small-group Bible studies, ranging from Latino to athletes to Greek system based. In addition to establishing worship services and a variety of outreach programs, InterVarsity also works with the general campus community. They regularly partner with other student orgs. to sponsor events pertaining to social justice, feed hundreds of incoming freshmen at a free, start-of-the-semester barbeque and set up a welcome stand to pass out snow cones to hundreds of students during the first week of school.

InterVarsity Area Director for North County, Ramiro Marchena, said that the constitution is not intended to be discriminatory but rather to provide leaders that are well-versed in the Bible and Christian faith in order to answer questions that other members may have. InterVarsity also chose not to utilize the election based system for their leadership orgs. in order to remain true to their values.

“We would be intentionally voting for people that are Christian to become leaders. We probably wouldn’t vote in a non-Christian and that would be working the system,” Marchena said. “We don’t want to be deceitful or under the radar.”

Due to their derecognition, InterVarsity will not have the same access to resources that they did as a student org. They cannot have a table at student org. fairs, partner with other orgs. in the same capacity that they previously did or promote the group in spaces other than on public bulletin boards. In addition, not being a student org. impacts the costs and time it takes to reserve a room on campus for meetings.

InterVarsity is open to working further with the Chancellor’s Office to reach a consensus on how the matter should be resolved. However, they maintain that they would like to be reinstated as a student org., and should be allowed to select student leaders that are of the Christian faith.

“We are going through a process of grieving for the institution where the place we call home isn’t home anymore,” Marchena said. “We don’t hate the CSU system and we understand their policy, but we think that there is a better way to go about this. This is creating a space for no diversity where you can’t believe in anything and can’t have requirements for leaders. Our desire is that they will create a space for people of faith. As a religious org., we can have a president  who is Muslim or Christian. We’re just asking for that space to be true to ourselves, having been able to do that for decades on these campuses.”