Vanderbilt could lose police over 'all-comers' policy
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee lawmakers Tuesday revived an effort to pressure Vanderbilt University to drop its controversial nondiscrimination policy for student clubs — this time with an attack on the school's police powers.
A pair of Tennessee lawmakers said they will press ahead with a bill that would strip the Vanderbilt University Police Department of state recognition unless the school abandons its "all-comers" policy. That policy requires university-sponsored clubs to follow its rules against discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation -- even if a student doesn't share the group's central beliefs.
The bill would defy the wishes of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who vetoed a measure last year that attacked all-comers from a different angle. Backers said the new measure would stand a better chance of holding up in the courts and protect students from arbitrary use of police power to break up protests against the policy.
"Who will hold Nicholas Zeppos accountable?" said David Fowler, president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, referring to Vanderbilt's chancellor.
But university officials said the measure flies in the face of efforts to tighten security in the wake of mass shootings. Without state recognition, Vanderbilt's police effectively would become security guards, they said.
"I just find it unbelievable," said August Washington, chief of the Vanderbilt University Police Department.
Senate Bill 1241/House Bill 1150, sponsored by state Rep. Mark Pody and state Sen. Mae Beavers, would take police powers away from any university that has adopted policies that "discriminate" against religious student organizations. Seventeen universities in Tennessee have their own police departments.
But it is geared toward Vanderbilt, which has implemented a rule requiring recognized student groups to follow school policies that bar discrimination.
School recognition gives groups access to university funding, as well as priority access to university facilities, the ability to use the school's name and the right to take part in university-sponsored events.
Controversy over the policy began in 2011, a year after the president of a Christian fraternity complained he had been dismissed for being gay. Fourteen religious organizations eventually opted to drop their university affiliation rather than abide by the nondiscrimination policy.
Carol Swain, a Vanderbilt professor who backs the legislation, said the university is trying to force religious clubs out of existence.
"It has put the student groups where they're not able to grow in their faith, they have to operate underground," she said. "These organizations will eventually wither away, and that seems to be the intent of the university."
Last year, 36 members of Congress urged the university to exempt religious organizations from its all-comers policy, saying it discriminates against faith-based groups.
Vanderbilt University employs 91 sworn police officers and 47 community service officers. Vanderbilt police have powers like those of a municipal police department, including the ability to carry guns, make arrests, investigate crimes and patrol campus and surrounding neighborhoods.
School officials said police play no role in enforcing student policies.
The bill is the third filed by Pody, a Republican from Lebanon, Tenn., attacking Vanderbilt over the all-comers policy. Earlier this year, Pody filed a nearly identical measure but quickly withdrew it, saying he was not satisfied with the language.
A year ago, he and Beavers, a Republican from Mount Juliet, Tenn., convinced state legislators to approve a bill that went after the school on the basis of its health care funding. Haslam vetoed that measure, saying the state should not meddle in a private, university affair.
The state attorney general later said the measure probably would have been found unconstitutional.
Backers of the current measure said they are confident it will stand up to constitutional scrutiny because it applies broadly to schools with police departments.
Contributing: Elizabeth Bewley, Gannett Washington Bureau