The Guardian: Christian Union and Guild of Students at war over equal opportunities
(Monday 16 October 2006)

Christian students at the University of Exeter are threatening to take legal action against the campus's student guild in a row over equal opportunities policies, according to EducationGuardian.co.uk.

According to the paper,the 50-year-old Christian Union (CU) said in a statement today that it had been temporarily suspended from the official list of student societies there. The president of the Guild of Students, Jemma Percy, denied this was the case.

The society said its student union bank account has been frozen, and it had been banned from free use of student guild premises, because, it said, the guild claimed the CU constitution and activities did not conform to its equal opportunities policies. Ms Percy confirmed some of the guild privileges afforded to its societies had been suspended because of the CU's constitution.

The CU said it appeared that unless they disassociated themselves from the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF), and stopped the practice of asking committee members and speakers to sign a declaration, they could be permanently banned from the guild.

The society's constitution states: "Participation in CU activities is open to all students in the university. Membership is open to all students in the university who can conscientiously sign the following declaration: 'In joining this union, I declare my faith in Jesus Christ as my saviour, my lord and my God'." The CU is also continuing to use its name - despite a vote involving 899 of the 13,800-strong student body, which decided that it should be known as the Evangelical Christian Union.

Ms Percy said that because of the requirement to sign the declaration "participation in the society was not open to every student. The guild offers students the opportunity to actively participate in the democratic process. We are student-led and exist for our 14,000 members. We have a duty to represent them and uphold equal opportunities. This issue was brought forward by our students and then debated by them. The ECU remains one of our 109 societies."