Arizona State University will officially recognize its chapter of the Christian Legal Society, a law-student group that denies membership to students who fail to uphold a conservative Christian belief of celibacy before marriage, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. In a settlement reached in early September, ASU announced that it would amend its nondiscrimination policy by allowing groups to withhold membership on the basis of religious belief.

The group's application for university recognition was delayed in the fall of 2004 because the application requires affirmation that the group follows all school nondiscrimination policies, according to The Chronicle. Rather than falsely denying their discrimination policies, the group chose to withhold its application and consequently sued the university based on the chapter's free speech and free-association rights.

The university found that the Christian group would not be discriminating against students' sexual orientation if it decided to ban sexually active gay members, since all unmarried students who engage in sexual conduct are ineligible for membership. This limited membership is based on the group's belief that members should not engage in sexual conduct outside of traditional marriage. "We don't target students of one orientation or another," said Bethany S. Lewis, the president of the chapter. "We require all student members and leaders to live consistently with standards set forth in the Bible."

Although the group requires celibacy, the Christian Legal Society insists that it is not discriminating against homosexuals because heterosexuals who engage in sexual activity are also banned. However, an editorial in the The State Press, the Arizona State newspaper, criticized the decision to settle the case: "So a little discrimination is O.K., as long as it stays at religion and doesn't cross into sexual orientation. The settlement leaves a bad taste in our mouths."