RICHMOND, Va. – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a complaint Wednesday on behalf of three Virginia students who are excluded from generally available college grants because they chose certain religious programs. ADF attorneys are challenging the unconstitutional policies of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Virginia Department of Military Affairs that deny tuition grants for programs that state officials deem are for “religious training or theological education.”
The State Council administers the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program, and the Virginia Department of Military Affairs administers the National Guard Tuition Assistance Grant Program, both of which are generally available programs to Virginia college students. But both grant programs exclude students who select certain ineligible religious programs. Two recent high school graduates and one current college student at Liberty University are excluded from those grant programs solely because of the religious nature of their academic pursuits, even though all three are considering various careers in their futures.
“The First Amendment prohibits the government from excluding students from otherwise available grants solely because they picked religious programs that they believe God has called them to pursue,” said ADF Legal Counsel Jacob Reed. “These policies treat Cameron Johnson, Luke Thomas, and Trace Stevens as second-class citizens and have no place in our laws. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled three times in the last eight years that otherwise available public benefits cannot be withheld from people because of their religious character, exercise, and use of the benefits. We are urging the court to uphold the First Amendment and allow students in Virginia to pursue their goals without fear that their religion will create financial barriers for their education.”
Johnson, a recent high school graduate who will major in Pastoral Leadership at Liberty in the fall, was denied a VTAG grant because of his chosen major. Likewise, Thomas plans on majoring in Music and Worship at Liberty, but that major is ineligible for VTAG for the same reason. Private First Class Stevens is a member of the Virginia Army National Guard and is majoring in Religion at Liberty and seeks to be a military chaplain. Although his major is approved for the VTAG grant, the Department of Military Affairs still denied him a National Guard Grant, because, in the Department’s view, that program is too religious.
ADF attorneys filed Johnson v. Fleming with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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