Bill targeting Christian colleges gets final committee hearing

Samantha Miller chose to attend Biola University, a private, evangelical school near Los Angeles, in part because of the code of conduct she and other students had to sign. The code prescribes biblical behavior and prohibits things such as engaging in premarital sex.

“That aspect of standards that they have for Biola’s community is something that is really special about Biola. And it wasn’t a concern for me,” Miller said. “It was more of a comfort that those distractions weren’t going to be like a problem during my college years.”

A bill scheduled tomorrow for its last committee hearing before heading to the California General Assembly would strip Christian post-secondary schools of their exemption from California’s non-discrimination law, based on their beliefs about marriage, gender, and sexuality. Its provisions include making financial aid available only to colleges and universities that toe the line of government-approved sexual ethics. The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Ricardo Lara, calls biblical ideas about sexuality egregious and says such a worldview ought not be paid for with government funds, even if students choose such an education.

“It would be devastating for me and for my family,” Miller said about the possible law change. “I know the student experience would change as we wouldn’t be able to carry out our faith-based education as we’ve done for the past 108 years.”

Miller says she has gay and lesbian classmates, and believes they have a place at Biola, too.

“I think they’re walking out their relationship with Christ, just as I’m walking out my relationship with Him,” she said.

SB 1146 would make students who attend schools like Biola, which require students to sign a statement of faith and abide by a code of conduct, ineligible for aid such as Cal Grants. Those need-based grants pay as much as $9,000 per year for students to attend independent colleges. Biola professor Timothy Muehlhoff said SB 1146 could force needy students to attend secular colleges like the University of California, Berkeley.

“I want to let Berkeley be Berkeley, and I want to allow Biola to be Biola,” he said. “And I think the diversity benefits Californians.”

Erik Stanley of Alliance Defending Freedom said SB 1146 takes clear aim at traditional moral teaching and gives students the right to sue their schools if they think established codes of conduct are discriminatory.

“Everything that we’ve seen in the public universities with ‘trigger warnings,’ speech codes, and [safe spaces], a student can then use that in a lawsuit against a Christian college and the college would be liable for damages and for any kind of attorneys fees as well,” Stanley said. “This bill really is an attempt to close down Christian colleges and universities.”

Listen to “Legal Docket” on the Aug. 8, 2016, episode of The World and Everything in It.