Despite the reputation that colleges and universities try to cultivate as centers of free expression, campuses aren’t always friendly to people of faith and their organizations. The 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez made things worse by saying that public colleges and universities can force religious organizations to adopt “all comers” policies, which can even prohibit groups from barring non-believers or students of different faiths from seeking leadership positions.

It's a ridiculous notion, and it flies in the face of these groups’ reasons for existing.

“We would never tell an environmental group that was lobbying for a climate bill that they would have to allow someone that supports drilling in the Arctic,” Matt Sharp, the director of Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Public Policy, told World Magazine. “When it comes to ultimately making those decisions about who’s the leader, who’s the person that’s shaping the direction of our organization, we have to make sure that that person is aligned with the mission and values of [the] organization.”

States are trying to figure out ways to protect the integrity of these religious organizations. Enter Missouri, the latest state to do so. The Missouri legislature is using an unusual law to justify the rights of religious campus organizations to limit their memberships.

“First introduced in the Missouri Senate in January, the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act primarily seeks to prevent discrimination based on a person’s hair texture,” reports Liz Lykins at World. “The multi-faceted law also addresses several other educational provisions, including students’ free association and speech rights, according to the governor’s office. The measure prohibits higher education institutions from taking ‘adverse’ action against student organizations that have leadership requirements involving political, ideological, or religious beliefs.”

Related: It's a Massive Day for People of Faith in Georgia!

The CROWN Act has taken root in other states — my friend and colleague Robert Spencer wrote about Arizona’s law in 2023 — but Missouri may be the first state to use its logic to extend to protecting other groups, like religious students at public colleges and universities. It also allows groups of all stripes to guard against discrimination and gives them access to school facilities.

World notes that this is the latest in a series of victories for religious student groups:

In 2023, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the free association right of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes group at a California high school after administrators kicked it off campus over its policy of choosing leaders with Christian beliefs.

In 2022, the Christian student organization Ratio Christi settled with the University of Houston-Clear Lake in a lawsuit over officials’ decision to exclude Ratio Christi from registered student organization status because of its religious leadership requirements.

Religious student groups have also won similar cases in Colorado and Iowa.

Naturally, Democrats decry the law, which Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law on Wednesday. Their beef with the law is that “discriminatory” groups could have access to campus funds and facilities.

Attorney Tyler Coward of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression told World that the “all comers” policies infringe upon the free association rights of campus organizations, especially political and religious groups.

“The reality is that a lot of these student organizations just would not exist if they [were] forced to adopt ‘all-comer’ policies,” he said. “This is actually a big win for the vibrancy of student groups on campus.”

Missouri has given college students of faith another victory. Here’s hoping other states will follow suit.

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