Luther Rice College and Seminary, a private Baptist school founded in 1962, is suing Georgia state officials over the school’s decision to exclude it from student financial aid programs. The school is represented by the Christian legal authority Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed the lawsuit on October 15.
“This civil rights movement was an attempt by the government to force Christian colleges and universities to abandon their religious character, beliefs, and movements in order to participate in Georgia’s student aid programs like other schools.” “The aim is to prevent this,” ADF said in its complaint. Luther Rice has not commented publicly on the incident.
“States should never limit a student’s educational opportunities solely because of religious beliefs, ADF declared in a summary statement.
Georgia law prohibits private schools that are considered “theological or divinity schools or universities” from participating in public tuition assistance programs. State officials determined that even Luther Rice University’s non-theology degree programs are so closely intertwined with religious studies that the school is not eligible for general education grants.
ADF claims that students have been “unjustly excluded” from attending Luther Rice, and that the school “(a) maintains its religious mission and degree programs and adheres to a Christian worldview.” (b) give up its religious character and practice to participate equally with other schools in the state.”
ADF argues that “forcing schools to make such a choice is unconstitutional.”
ADF lists five other similar Christian colleges and schools that have been allowed to participate in the state’s student aid program — Tuyett-McConnell College, Brewton-Parker College, Shorter College and Emmanuel College. University, Toccoa Falls College, but these schools are more traditional in their curriculum than Luther. Rice.
Founded in Jacksonville, Florida, Luther Rice moved to Georgia in 1991 after receiving a gift of real estate in Lithonia, Georgia. There will be 757 students enrolled in the 2023-24 academic year, 269 of whom are undergraduates. The school is named for Luther Rice, a Baptist leader who promoted evangelism, Baptist unity, and pastoral education.
From its inception, Luther Rice Seminary has had a dotted relationship with the most conservative wing of the Southern Baptist Convention. It was initially touted as the more conservative school than any of the SBC’s six seminaries. Over the past three decades, that distinction has faded as SBC schools have become more conservative.
According to a Luther Rice spokesperson, the school aims to provide “biblical, on-campus and distance education for Christian men and women for the ministry and marketplace,” and includes leadership, counseling, apologetics, and Christian education. Christian worldview, Christian research, and Christian mission.
As BNG reported, Alliance Defending Freedom was founded 30 years ago by conservative Christian leaders and now has an annual budget of more than $100 million and a national network of more than 4,000 affiliated lawyers. , has an impressive track record of winning hundreds of cases, including: 15 Supreme Court victories that overturned Roe v. Wade and protected bakers and web designers who refused to officiate gay weddings.
Five of the high court victories were in education-related cases, including Arizona Christian School Tuition Group v. Wynn, which challenged the state’s limits on scholarships to private schools. Other educational wins include:
Uzuegbunam v. Plechevsky, which protected the rights of college students who had restrictions on sharing their faith with other students on campus. Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell and University of Geneva v. Burwell released Christian schools from the requirement to include all FDA-approved schools, including contraceptives containing abortion-inducing drugs and devices in employee and student health plans. is included. Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer in Columbia required Missouri taxpayers to fund physical improvements to a Christian school.
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