by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (Worthy News) – For years, Campus Bible Fellowship had a place among the student clubs at SUNY Broome Community College. Now the Christian ministry is in federal court, fighting for the right to choose leaders who share its faith.
The dispute turns on a requirement in the club’s constitution: Its officers must profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. SUNY Broome says that requirement conflicts with its nondiscrimination policy, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the club.
Campus Bible Fellowship says students are welcome to take part in its activities regardless of their beliefs. Its leaders, however, guide the group’s spiritual life and represent its Christian mission. Requiring the ministry to accept leaders who do not hold those beliefs would change the ministry itself, the group argues.
Student president Jacob Seachrist and the fellowship filed suit after the college refused to recognize the club. Without recognition, it cannot reserve campus space or access financial resources available to approved student organizations, its lawyers say. Just the News reported that the group had been recognized at SUNY Broome from 1996 until 2025.
The question before the court
Because SUNY Broome is a public college, its rules must comply with the First Amendment. But the law does not give student clubs an automatic exemption from every campus policy. In Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, the Supreme Court upheld a public law school’s rule requiring all recognized groups to accept any student as a member or leader, provided the rule was applied without regard to viewpoint.
Campus Bible Fellowship’s case will test SUNY Broome’s rules and how the college applied them. The ministry says it should not have to surrender its faith-based leadership requirement to receive the same recognition as other clubs. The college’s position, as described by the group’s lawyers, is that the requirement violates its nondiscrimination policy. A court has yet to decide the dispute.
For Seachrist and his fellow students, recognition has a practical meaning: a place to gather, the means to reach other students, and leaders who believe the message they are called to teach.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
