The Center for Law and Religious Freedom will drop its lawsuit against Penn State, provided the university eliminates certain requirements for new political or religious student groups.
The university has agreed to cut the requirement that religious organizations undergo a separate recommendation process with the director of the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs, meeting another demand in the suit that was not yet addressed.
"As soon as we get that, as soon as they can physically show us the policy change, we'll go ahead with the settlement agreement and dismiss the complaint," said Tim Tracey, the Center's chief litigation counsel.
Another fault the suit found was that all student groups must have 20 members at the time of their creation.
University officials said yesterday the requirement would not be dropped but that adjustments could be made.
"I'm pretty confident we're going to stick with the 20-member requirement, considering the size of the institution," said Stan Latta, director of union and student activities.
Latta added that if for some reason a group could not meet this requirement, it could submit an appeal.
Latta said a meeting will take place in July for administrators to discuss the 20-member requirement.
Tracey said the university promised the Center official notification of the changes by the end of the week.
The suit filed on behalf of DiscipleMakers Christian Fellowship alleges that in denying the organization registered-group status, the university violated group members' First Amendment rights.
Last week, the university decided to grant the group registered-group status. Latta said this decision bypassed the typical means of approval, which normally goes through the Undergraduate Student Government Supreme Court.
Penn State also decided to drop the clause that all new groups must prove themselves unique from existing organizations on campus.
"In terms of religious or political ideology, we're not going to be discriminating ... " Latta said.
Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon did not return two phone calls. Bill Dripps, founder of parent group DiscipleMakers, declined to comment.
