Fellowship of Christian Athletes

A high school principal in Texas -- after receiving a demand letter from a Christian legal group -- has reversed course and decided to allow the campus chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) representation in this year's yearbook. The Mississippi-based Center for Law & Policy reports that the principal of Hamshire-Fannett High School near Beaumont had originally stated the school "has an obligation not to sponsor religion," even though club information had appeared in the yearbook for the past 38 years. But after the CLP explained in the letter that constitutional issues were at stake -- and that there was definitely the possibility of a federal lawsuit -- the principal met with Will Navarre, a senior at the school and president of the campus FCA chapter, to inform the student of his change of heart. The CLP asserts that had it not acted, "the rights of Christians in the public schools, and Christian influence in general, could have been quietly suppressed in a whole school district."