Christian activity no longer avoided like plague by University of Montana work-study program

MISSOULA, Mont. — University of Montana officials agreed to allow students to be employed through a work-study program at a Missoula community center after a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund explained that allowing employment at the center, where religious student activities occur, would not violate federal law.

The letter explained that denying such a request merely because several religious youth activities take place within the massive City Life Community Center complex is unconstitutional.

“University students should not be prohibited from taking part in a work-study program merely because religious activities would take place before or after their shifts in the same building,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “The university got it right by ending its quarantine and allowing students to work at the community center. They can be confident that the Constitution does not equate nearby religious youth activities with asbestos in the ceiling tiles.”

Last year, the 34,000-square-foot City Life Community Center for teens was used by 43 diverse not-for-profit or youth-based programs. Because some of these were religious in nature, University of Montana officials banned students in their work-study program from seeking employment at the center, fearing that it would violate statutory and regulatory provisions governing federal grants for such programs. The ADF letter explained that the concerns were unwarranted.

 

“The work-study statute and regulation, properly interpreted, do not require you to forbid work-study students from working at City Life on the ground that religious activities sometimes occur there,” the ADF letter stated. “Indeed, the law likely forbids such an approach.”

City Life facilities are used by numerous community organizations, including Missoula Parks and Recreation, District Youth Court/Drug Court, Missoula County Public Schools, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Sentinel Kiwanis Club, Missoula Rotary Club, Missoula City Fire Department, and many religious and athletic organizations. It has a full-service sandwich and coffee bar; a gymnasium equipped for basketball, volleyball, and fencing; a student center; a teen activity center for ping-pong, air hockey, video games, darts, and other recreational/social activities; and a paintball facility.