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I am asking this question in light of recent events, as well as from personal experience. Is a college, particularly a private college, allowed to not accredit or allow a club on campus that is political in nature. For example, College Democrats or College Republicans. Both have well established chapters throughout the country, but is there any law protecting colleges who do not want these organizations on campus? I am asking this question in regards to U.S. colleges only.

tpm900
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Of course! For instance I'm pretty sure Bob Jones University does not have a LGBT club of any kind. It might affect their ability to receive certain federal grants and other monies but other than that...

Raydot
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  • A not particular definitive but still relevant FoxNews article mentions some examples of religious schools banning (democratic) clubs due to their views on certain topics conflicting with the religious values the school is based on. It contains the completely unsupported line of "no one questions that a private university has the legal right to ban political speech on campus". – zibadawa timmy Mar 10 '17 at 01:24
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    @zibadawatimmy It may be "completely unsupported," but it's right, The United States Constitution protects citizens from the Federal government, and by extension through the Fourteenth Amendment, from the state governments. It does not protect citizens from each other. A private institution can do anything that's not illegal according to statutory law. – Bob Brown Mar 10 '17 at 02:06
  • "Importantly, some states have statutes (or state constitutional provisions) that provide students at private schools with some measure of free speech rights. For example, California's so-called 'Leonard Law' (more technically, Section 94367 of California's Education Code) states that 'no private postsecondary educational institution shall make or enforce any rule subjecting any student to disciplinary sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that . . . – Daniel R. Collins Mar 10 '17 at 03:47
  • ... is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article 1 of the California Constitution'". -- http://www.knowmyrights.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44:free-speech-rights-on-private-college-campuses&catid=18&Itemid=123&showall=&limitstart=1 – Daniel R. Collins Mar 10 '17 at 03:47
  • @daniel If I understand correctly this law, prevents diacrimination against students not clubs – llrs Mar 10 '17 at 07:14
  • @Llopis: That was in response to the zibadawa/Bob Brown comments arguing specifically about the status of speech. – Daniel R. Collins Mar 10 '17 at 13:52