Religious Liberty

“In a time when religious freedom is denied in so many parts of the world, it is an honor to celebrate the right to worship freely as Americans,” Hawley said. “Across our history, religious freedom has been at the core of who we are, and today we reaffirm our commitment to preserve and protect that freedom for generations to come.”

“I request that your Department protect the rights of these students by monitoring closely the changes Yale is making to its policy and by taking all appropriate legal action to strip Yale of federal funding should it—as an institution that is supposed to be neutral about religion—target religious students for special disfavor.”

Today Senator Josh Hawley delivered a floor speech on Yale Law School’s policy of discriminating against students of faith. The speech comes after Hawley sent letters to Attorney General Bill Barr and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos this morning asking them to ensure that Yale Law School reverses its misguided policy or strip their federal funding.

Following reports that Yale Law School will now deprive religious students of funding opportunities if they work for organizations that require statements of faith, Senator Josh Hawley issued this statement: “Yale’s new policy, as first announced, targets religious students for special disfavor. Under this policy, a student saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt can’t access Yale’s loan repayment program if they choose to work for certain faith-based organizations....

“Yale’s new policy, as first announced, targets religious students for special disfavor. Under this policy, a student saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt can’t access Yale’s loan repayment program if they choose to work for certain faith-based organizations. Depriving a student of resources available to everybody else because of her religion isn’t just wrong. For schools receiving federal funds, it’s illegal. Now Yale has suggested it may abandon or alter this discriminatory policy. If it does not, the federal government should strip funding from Yale under appropriate statutes and review Yale’s tax-exempt status.”