RFI Communications Director Nathan Berkeley and University of Notre Dame Law Professor Richard Garnett co-authored an article this week for National Review titled, “The Campaign against Baylor Is an Attack on Religious Freedom.” In it they highlight a congressional inquiry into Baylor University’s Title IX religious exemption and the religious freedom threat it represents. Berkeley and Garnett write:

The federal Title IX religious exemption is good policy and a necessary protection for religious universities that seek to remain faithful to their religious mission. Unfortunately, some in Congress don’t see it that way.

In a September 5 letter to the U.S. Department of Education, five members of Congress led by Representative Adam Schiff (along with Representatives Greg Casar, Joaquin Castro, Mark Takano, and Veronica Escobar) objected to “Baylor University’s claim to an exemption from Title IX’s regulations prohibiting sexual harassment . . .” and urged “the Department to clarify the narrow scope of this exemption.” Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs that receive federal financial assistance.

In addition to calling for greater scrutiny of the scope of Baylor’s religious exemption, they also challenged the school’s fundamental eligibility for a Title IX exemption in light of allegations that “[Baylor] is no longer controlled by a religious organization.” The ideology driving this inquiry threatens Baylor’s religious freedom and that of many other religious institutions in America.

Read the full article: “The Campaign against Baylor Is an Attack on Religious Freedom.”