UC Berkeley Changes School Policy After Discrimination Lawsuit

The University of California, Berkeley changed its Registered Student Organization policy following a federal lawsuit from the Alliance Defending Freedom.

ADF filed the lawsuit last year after the university allegedly refused to recognize the conservative student group, Young Americans for Liberty. UC Berkeley claimed the reason for the denial was because the group was "too similar for Cal Libertarians."

The lawsuit was dropped after the university changed its position and revised its policy to prohibit discrimination against student groups based on their statement of purpose or uniqueness, mission statements, or other viewpoints expressed in their applications.

UC Berkeley will also pay damages and attorney fees.

"Public university officials can't discriminate against students because of their political beliefs," ADF Legal Counsel Caleb Dalton said in a statement. "By leaving decisions on whether a student group is 'too similar' to another club in the hands of a university official with no requirement to follow any viewpoint-neutral standards, UC-Berkeley allowed for unconstitutional discrimination, but these changes fix that problem. Because these students stood up and challenged the status quo, the marketplace of ideas is freer at Berkeley today than it was last year."

Young Americans for Liberty President Cliff Maloney, Jr. applauded the decision.

"As the birth place of the Free Speech Movement and a public university, UC Berkeley has done the right thing in agreeing to respect the First Amendment in this matter," said YAL President Cliff Maloney, Jr. "I applaud the students for standing up for their constitutionally protected freedoms and advocating for a level playing field."