Gator students take university to task for alleged registration bias

Gator students take university to task for alleged registration bias

The attorney for the University of Florida's Christian fraternity Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX) says the school has put the group's members in a puzzling position in their attempt to apply as a registered student group for the coming academic year: either give up their identity as a men's organization -- or abandon their religious criteria for members, which the school claims is religious discrimination.

Center for Law and Religious Freedom counsel Tim Tracey says neither of those options are acceptable to the Christian fraternity, against whom he alleges the university's registration rules have been rewritten this year to shut out BYX in two ways. And without official recognition the fraternity, also known as "Brothers Under Christ," is denied critical benefits such as access to meeting space and the ability to advertise and recruit members on campus.

Tracy explains why the fraternity has responded by filing suit in federal court. "The University of Florida has put Beta Upsilon Chi in a conundrum," says the attorney. "It said we won't recognize you as a registered student organization because you limit your membership to men, but it's [also] saying you can't go through the Greek system because you require your members to be Christians. So it's kind of a no-win situation for Beta Upsilon Chi."

Tracey says other single-sex organizations -- such as Women's Chorale and Men's Ice Hockey -- have been allowed to register, but Brothers Under Christ has not. "So it's really a case of the University of Florida singling out Christian fraternities and sororities," he says.