University of Wisconsin To Permit Disputed Funding Of Catholic Group

The Associated Press reported yesterday that University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley says that despite his reservations on church-state grounds, he will recommend to the Board of Regents that the University's Roman Catholic Foundation get $145,000 in funding that will be used to run an evangelical ministry, hold prayer groups and print Lenten booklets and weekly bulletins. (See prior posting.) Students leaders approved the funding from student fees earlier this year. The Catholic Foundation, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, had threatened to sue, saying that denial of funding would amount to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in the distribution of student fees. On the other hand, the Freedom From Religion Foundation now says it will likely file suit challenging approval of the funding as a violation of the separation of church and state. Chancellor Wiley said that in the future he will not support similar funding without more information on how it will be used.