Oral Roberts was a fundamentalist 'Christian' who famously holed up in his 'university's' tower saying that God would call him home unless people sent him $$$$$. He got $8 million and God let him stay. Mind you I'm not sure that if you gave me $8 mill I'd want to live in Tulsa OK but there you are. Dusty Springfield stayed away and that's good enough for me.
We are seeing, rightly, more and more emphasis on sexual and racial and religious discrimination and calling it out when it occurs and how to avoid it. Title IX of the Civil Rights Act is a clause which requires that schools which receive federal money do not discriminate on the grounds of sex. Here of course is where religion and sex sometimes collide, and ORU has an exemption from some parts of Title IX because they managed to claim, successfully, that their religious freedom trumps (pun not intended but I'll take it) the requirement to be decent people.
See this letter which explains it all. December 2017 from Betsy DeVos's Department of Education but I don't know that it would have been any different under Obama, for example.
I took one clause at random, from which they sought and received exemption: 34 CFR § 106.37 Financial assistance. (CFR = Code of Federal Regulations)
It all seems very uncontroversial. What on earth could be the reason for seeking an exemption? How is this a 'feel good' story? Should people be able to seek exemptions to anti-discrimination laws on religious grounds? I suspect the Taliban would approve but I hope that's not the standard we are seeing as some sort of ideal.
34 CFR § 106.37 Financial assistance.
(a) General. Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, in providing financial assistance to any of its students, a recipient shall not:
(1) On the basis of sex, provide different amount or types of such assistance, limit eligibility for such assistance which is of any particular type or source, apply different criteria, or otherwise discriminate;
(2) Through solicitation, listing, approval, provision of facilities or other services, assist any foundation, trust, agency, organization, or person which provides assistance to any of such recipient's students in a manner which discriminates on the basis of sex; or
(3) Apply any rule or assist in application of any rule concerning eligibility for such assistance which treats persons of one sex differently from persons of the other sex with regard to marital or parental status.
(b) Financial aid established by certain legal instruments.
(1) A recipient may administer or assist in the administration of scholarships, fellowships, or other forms of financial assistance established pursuant to domestic or foreign wills, trusts, bequests, or similar legal instruments or by acts of a foreign government which requires that awards be made to members of a particular sex specified therein; Provided, That the overall effect of the award of such sex-restricted scholarships, fellowships, and other forms of financial assistance does not discriminate on the basis of sex.
(2) To ensure nondiscriminatory awards of assistance as required in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, recipients shall develop and use procedures under which:
(i) Students are selected for award of financial assistance on the basis of nondiscriminatory criteria and not on the basis of availability of funds restricted to members of a particular sex;
(ii) An appropriate sex-restricted scholarship, fellowship, or other form of financial assistance is allocated to each student selected under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section; and
(iii) No student is denied the award for which he or she was selected under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section because of the absence of a scholarship, fellowship, or other form of financial assistance designated for a member of that student's sex.
(c) Athletic scholarships.
(1) To the extent that a recipient awards athletic scholarships or grants-in-aid, it must provide reasonable opportunities for such awards for members of each sex in proportion to the number of students of each sex participating in interscholastic or intercollegiate athletics.
(2) Separate athletic scholarships or grants-in-aid for members of each sex may be provided as part of separate athletic teams for members of each sex to the extent consistent with this paragraph and § 106.41.
[45 FR 30955, May 9, 1980, as amended at 85 FR 30579, May 19, 2020]
