2008 Woodie Awards
SIUC: We don't discriminate on basis of religion
University responds to Christian group's demands
Andrea Zimmermann
Issue date: 3/20/07 Section: City
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Dreuth Zeman passed the assignment on to SIU's general counsel before grading it, seeking their direction to handle the legal letter.
Mize filed a formal grievance with the university on Feb. 15 and has yet to hear from the university.
On March 7, Amy Smith, representing the Alliance Defense Fund, sent a letter to the university demanding that Mize's paper be graded immediately and that the university promise not to infringe students' religious rights. The paper was graded soon after the university received the letter.
Smith nor anyone else from the Alliance Defense Fund could be reached for comment.
SIUC spokesman Rod Sievers said Mize's case must have been buried in the university's legal office.
He said the situation became out of control on both ends. He said Mize should never have felt that she had to seek outside help for her problem, and it should not have taken the legal office so long to deal with the case.
"I think this whole thing was clearly a misunderstanding from the start," Sievers said. "I think we are going to look into (Mize's case) and try to find ways to make these situations move quicker so that people aren't out there hanging and have to go get outside help."
In the letter, Blakemore wrote that SIU President Glenn Poshard had asked him to investigate the matter before Smith sent the demand letter.
In previous media reports, Sievers had said that no one in the university's upper administration knew anything about Mize's case. On Monday, he clarified that to say the administration knew little because there were still a lot of missing details at the time.
"I don't know why there was the confusion. You wouldn't think that it would take this long to figure these things out," he said.
The Alliance Defense Fund sued the SIU School of Law in 2005. The university banned the Christian Legal Society from campus because it required members to uphold its religious beliefs. The university said the chapter's rules violated SIUC's affirmative action policy. The university lost and was forced to allow the organization back on campus.
andrea_zimmermann@dailyegyptian.com or 536-3311 ext. 274
Mize filed a formal grievance with the university on Feb. 15 and has yet to hear from the university.
On March 7, Amy Smith, representing the Alliance Defense Fund, sent a letter to the university demanding that Mize's paper be graded immediately and that the university promise not to infringe students' religious rights. The paper was graded soon after the university received the letter.
Smith nor anyone else from the Alliance Defense Fund could be reached for comment.
SIUC spokesman Rod Sievers said Mize's case must have been buried in the university's legal office.
He said the situation became out of control on both ends. He said Mize should never have felt that she had to seek outside help for her problem, and it should not have taken the legal office so long to deal with the case.
"I think this whole thing was clearly a misunderstanding from the start," Sievers said. "I think we are going to look into (Mize's case) and try to find ways to make these situations move quicker so that people aren't out there hanging and have to go get outside help."
In the letter, Blakemore wrote that SIU President Glenn Poshard had asked him to investigate the matter before Smith sent the demand letter.
In previous media reports, Sievers had said that no one in the university's upper administration knew anything about Mize's case. On Monday, he clarified that to say the administration knew little because there were still a lot of missing details at the time.
"I don't know why there was the confusion. You wouldn't think that it would take this long to figure these things out," he said.
The Alliance Defense Fund sued the SIU School of Law in 2005. The university banned the Christian Legal Society from campus because it required members to uphold its religious beliefs. The university said the chapter's rules violated SIUC's affirmative action policy. The university lost and was forced to allow the organization back on campus.
andrea_zimmermann@dailyegyptian.com or 536-3311 ext. 274
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