UW settles lawsuit over campus ban on RAs hosting Bible studies

University of Wisconsin System will pay $2,500 in legal fees to a UW-Eau Claire resident assistant to settle his lawsuit challenging a campus practice banning him from hosting Bible studies in his dormitory.

The settlement, made public in U.S. District Court in Madison on Friday, also calls for UW System to pay a symbolic $1 in damages to the student, Lance Steiger.

"We're pleased to have this matter resolved," UW System spokeswoman Kate Dixon said Friday.

The settlement comes two weeks after the UW System Board of Regents adopted a policy allowing resident assistants - who are paid to supervise students in residence halls - to host religious and political meetings in their rooms. The policy warns, however, that they cannot pressure others to participate in the events.

The new policy replaced policies at UW-Eau Claire and UW-Madison, where resident assistants were banned from recruiting, promoting or campaigning for political or religious groups in their buildings.

Steiger filed suit in November with help from the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian legal firm, after UW-Eau Claire officials threatened to discipline him if he hosted Bible studies in the basement of his dormitory.

The lawsuit, naming UW-Eau Claire officials and the regents, claimed his rights to free speech and religious freedom were violated by the unwritten policy. The lawsuit sought a change in the policy, which had sparked a major backlash from religious groups, conservatives and advocates for free speech.

"The university came to the right conclusion that the First Amendment protects religious speech and that this student's rights had indeed been violated," Kevin Theriot, a lawyer for Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement.

Steiger did not immediately return a phone message Friday afternoon.