College of the Ozarks Loses Fight to Keep Men Out of Women’s Dorms
“While we are disappointed about the decision, we will continue to advocate for College of the Ozark’s freedom to operate and educate students consistent with its faith-based mission.”
College of the Ozarks is a private Christian school. Shouldn’t they be allowed to set their own policy on this issue?
Campus Reform reports:
Christian college loses plea to keep men out of women’s dorms
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled against the College of the Ozarks’s (CofO) lawsuit against the Biden administration’s directive that universities permit student housing based on gender identity.
The court ruled against the Christian college in Point Lookout, Missouri, on July 27. CofO filed the suit in 2021.
CofO challenged the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after a memo was issued in Feb. 2021 that prohibited discrimination of “gender identity or sexual orientation” under the Fair Housing Act.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented the college, alleged that the order violated religious liberty by forcing religious schools to open “their dormitories, including dorm rooms and shared shower spaces, to members of the opposite sex.”
The appellate court, however, upheld a lower ruling to toss the case on the basis that the college lacked sufficient standing to sue.
“The district court ruled that the College lacked standing to establish a case or controversy and dismissed the action for lack of jurisdiction,” the July 27 ruling stated. “The College appeals, and we affirm.”
According to a statement provided to Campus Reform by ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman, ADF is “considering all legal options.”
“While we are disappointed about the decision, we will continue to advocate for College of the Ozark’s freedom to operate and educate students consistent with its faith-based mission. And College of the Ozarks will continue to follow that mission and serve its students well,” Bowman’s statement read.
The HUD directive came as a result of a 2021 executive order that standardized protection for the LGBT community. The order ruled that federal regulations including Title IX and the Federal Housing Act must include transgender and gay individuals under sex-based discrimination.
The order, one of the first of the Biden White House, was built atop the Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which expanded the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
CofO’s self-described mission is to “develop citizens of Christlike character who are well-educated, hard-working, and patriotic.”
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Comments
If the college is taking students using government backed loans, they are probably stuck.
It is a work study college. You pay for school with on campus work. You come out with 0 debt. No loans. My brother went there.
They are not tied to government at all.
Wait! How can they lack standing to challenge a rule that requires them to behave a certain way?
This sounds like a scam. Deny standing so they don’t have the chance to win on obvious constitutional grounds.
My thoughts, too! I wonder how Hillsdale is handling this?
Well, they “develop citizens of Christlike character” so they should welcome the opportunity to spend their time in the dorms working to convert the heathens. (I would think, being a private Christian college, they could simply weed those people out as not being within their moral and religious requirements for attendance.)
They don’t have time. They work. They study. They attend whatever church they go to. They are not going to do coed housing though.
Put a metal detector at the dorm entrance.
Except instead of EM eddy fields, it’s equipped with a robot boot that kicks you in the crotch.
If you’re still standing, you can enter.
Is this not a perfect case to head to SCOTUS? Get together with a couple other un-gov funded schools like Hillsdale & see.
This is going to be a trying time for the school and students! I know when I was at Olivet, there were many students who were there only because their parents/church wanted them there, so there’s bound to be a portion of students that are not or are nominally Christian. So, the ones that are Christian… well, it’ll be a time of deep commitment to Christ and self – denial.