Rescission Sparks Worry Over Religious Freedom

“It’s been really great working with [the ICC],” Singh said. “They’re also really great at answering questions and just want us to feel supported in any way — and we have.”

Singh explained that the HSC is currently raising money to hire a chaplain. Many campus religious organizations employ part- or fulltime chaplains, who lead religious practices. Members of HSC, however, facilitate their organization’s religious services.

“Anything that HSC does — whether it’s Diwali Dhamaka in the fall or, in the spring, Holi, any ticket sales we have are going towards raising money to try to get a chaplain,” Singh said. “[When we] have a religious service, we, as students, will perform the rituals ourselves in the best way that we know how.”

Cornell historically has not provided financial support to religious organizations for the purpose of hiring chaplains. According to Singh, campus organizations often solicit donations from alumni, but the HSC has a smaller alumni network as a newer organization.

Similarly to how Siddique and Singh expressed that the University has supported their organizations, Joel Malina, vice president for University Relations, said that Cornell has seen student organizations respect the University’s non-discrimination rule.

“Cornell University requires that all student groups comply with its non-discrimination policy in order to register their organizations. This policy continues to govern student activity,” Malina wrote in a statement to The Sun. “With their consistent compliance, student organizations at Cornell have demonstrated their strong commitment against discrimination based on people’s protected status.”

Because the Free Inquiry Rule is an executive order, it has direct implications for public universities or universities that receive federal funding.

Although Cornell is a private institution, it still receives federal funding. Tebbe said that he believes the Free Inquiry Rule impacts all universities across the country, regardless of schools’ status as public or private institutions.

“Both public and private universities receive federal funding of certain types,” Tebbe said. “It just conditions funding on their adherence to the rule; namely, they can’t exclude religious groups, because of their discriminatory practices, from recognition. I do think that Cornell would be subject to the Trump rule, and it would also benefit from the Biden rule in the sense that the rescission by the Biden administration would give Cornell the latitude to make this decision itself.”

Students like Avery Bower ’23, president of Cornell Republicans, expressed worry regarding how the University would treat religious student groups following the rescission.

“I think [the rescission is] a serious problem for the First Amendment,” Bower said. “And

I also think Cornell has a troubling track record when it comes to addressing students of all faiths and making sure that they feel that they’re getting equitable treatment. So I’m a bit concerned that there aren’t going to be federal protections for a lot of religious student groups.”

Bower cited the University’s handling of religious gatherings amid COVID-19 restrictions as a source of his concern.

One of the masking and physical distancing policies that Cornell enforced during the 2020-2021 school year was that organizations had to limit gatherings to 10 or fewer people. Bower explained that, in the Jewish faith, a quorum of 10 people is needed for certain religious obligations — the University’s COVID-19 restriction hindered many Jewish students from practicing aspects of their religion.

“When it came to the ability for students to be spiritually supported, the University was not there,” Bower said. “I think, without an added push from the Department of Education — in the event that there is some other sort of earth-shattering crisis — I don’t think that the University has demonstrated that it’s going to be able to look out for its religious students and allow them to further practice their religion.”

Siddique echoed this sentiment, saying that the Free Inquiry Rule provides valuable protection for religions that may be marginalized within different campus communities across the country.

“Having this law, or act, in place kind of codifies our protection, that no matter what external voices or chatter there might be — or the current political temperature — that Muslims and their voices, their thoughts and their core beliefs and identities are protected,” Siddique said. “At least, it’s another layer of protection for us, especially as a minority and marginalized religion, from being bullied around by voices which may not be friendly here in America.”

Dani Smith ’24, co-president of the American Civil Liberties Union at Cornell, said she anticipates the rescission will open up larger conversations about the rights to freedom of religion.

“My takeaway from the Free Inquiry Rule is that it’s a double-edged sword,” Smith said. “I think that it’s going to open up conversations about whether colleges have an interest in ensuring that student organizations are not being discriminatory in nature to other students. And, does the college have to support them and give them funding even if they do engage in that kind of discrimination?”