Pro-Life group recognized. (Making A Difference).

Last year, some students at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis formed a pro-life club called Law Students Pro-Life (LSPL). The fledgling club of about 20 members sought recognition as an official campus organization from the Student Bar Association (SBA), the law school's student government. Without such recognition, the new group could not qualify for university funding, student office space, a campus mail address, or listing in the school's admissions brochure. Neither could it advertise its activities on campus bulletin boards.

Last September 9th, by a vote of 27 to 10 (with one abstention), the SBA rejected the LSPL's application for recognition. It was believed to be the first time that the SBA had voted to deny recognition based on the content of a group's beliefs. In a letter sent to LSPL chairman Joel Siverd that day, SBA president Elliott Friedman asserted his belief that the "catching issue" was the "narrowness of your group's interests and goals." He complained that LSPL "was not touching on all possible pro-life issues," since its constitution did not include an "anti-death penalty" provision. Yet as a report on the controversy in the Washington Tunes noted, "In that regard, the group stands with many of the nation's leading pro-life organizations, which do not take a stand on the death penalty."

LSPL reapplied, but the SBA reaffirmed its position on September 23rd without comment. When further informed that university administrators would not overrule the SBA, the pro-life club contacted Freedom for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a Philadelphia-based campus freespeech group.

On September 30th, FIRE wrote to University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and School of Law Dean Joel Seligman, urging them to intervene on LSPL's behalf and thereby spare the ...