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A Christian student organization has filed a complaint with the federal Department of Education over alleged unfair treatment on the campus of UNH Law School, largely at the hands of their fellow students who want the group shut down. Another group is facing protests over an email invitation to a vigil for the victims of the mass shooting at a Christian school.

It has become part of a larger national debate over the Biden administration’s decision to end a policy protecting religious liberty on campus.

According to the complaint, the Free Exercise Coalition (FEC) was denied official recognition as a student group at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law by the Student Bar Association (SBA) last year. While the group met all the requirements, SBA members attacked its leadership as “hateful bigots,” “oppressors,” and “a problem for the law school.”

The March 23 complaint was filed by First Liberty Institute, a non-profit legal organization promoting religious freedom in public spaces. It reports the attacks on FEC students were so heated that “the FEC’s faculty advisor withdrew as advisor following the meeting. As of the date of this letter, the Coalition is still seeking a faculty advisor.”

When the organization’s application for recognition came up again in January, the SBA simply refused to hold a vote. While UNH Law has a range of student organizations, from the Diversity Coalition to Secular Students Alliance to the UNH Law Pond Hockey, the SBA would not even consider the Christian group’s application.

This apparent discrimination created a legal issue for UNH law, and the administration was forced to step in and grant the FEC’s request for recognition. But the trouble didn’t end.

In February, FEC members noted other campus groups were flying flags expressing political messages, such as the Pride flag or the Black Law Student organization’s flag, and asked permission to fly the Christian flag. They were denied and told instead they could post the flag on a “display board” instead, according to the complaint.

“The Free Exercise Coalition merely seeks to be treated like other student groups on campus. Instead, they are held to a different standard and, along with other people of faith in the community, are left feeling ostracized and insulted because of their religious beliefs.”

It’s not just the FEC. UNH Law students marched in protest last week over an email from the school’s Christian Legal Society calling for a vigil in the wake of the March 27 shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tenn. The invite included details about the attack, noting the school shooter was a transgender person who intentionally targeted Christians.

“Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale identified as transgender and had a detailed manifesto to attack the Christian academy. By all accounts, this terrorist attack on a Christian school was motivated by anti-Christian hate,” the Christian Legal Society invitation stated.

In fact, the contents of Hale’s manifesto or the nine journals police found at Hale’s home have not been publicly disclosed.

The email went on to reference rising violent rhetoric coming from those in, and aligned with, the transgender community, often directed at Christians and used to intimidate people who disagree.

“Unfortunately, these tactics and rhetoric are not isolated to the national conversation. At UNH Law, students and others have similarly maligned Christian students and CLS as bigoted, hateful, or unfit for public recognition or acceptance,” the invitation stated. “If this tragedy was animated by such ideas and rhetoric, there needs to be much soul-searching by those who endorse similar ideas. Giving into these ideas is not compassionate; it is dangerous.”

Some students complained to UNH administrators and urged them to take action against the CLS. When the administration refused, citing First Amendment protections, students staged a walkout, chanting, “UNH stands against hate!”

“These statements were violent, and the university has only had quiet responses up until this point,” said law student Sydney Reyes in the Concord Monitor. “Without recognizing what has been experienced on campus as violent, I don’t think quiet responses are addressing it; it’s time to be loud.”

But in a written response, UNH Law School Dean Megan Carpenter defended the school’s free speech stance.

“As a guiding principle as an institution of higher education, we are committed to the free and open exchange of ideas, active discourse, and critical debate. All members of our community have the right to hold and vigorously defend and promote their opinions,” Carpenter wrote. “The exercise of this right may result in members of the community being exposed to ideas that they consider unorthodox, controversial, or even repugnant.”

Carpenter went on to write that the Christian Legal Society has the right to exist as a recognized entity on campus, though the administration does not necessarily endorse its views. She wrote that students have to learn to live with people with whom they disagree.

“The university and UNH Franklin Pierce honor sexual and gender diversity, and we also support the right for our members to freely express their sincerely held religious beliefs. Sometimes these principles and beliefs will come into opposition,” Carpenter wrote.

The University of New Hampshire has one of the highest rankings in the nation from the free-speech organization FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.)

Still, supporters of religious liberty remained concerned about what they see as an anti-First Amendment ethos on college campuses nationwide. Last month a group of congressional Republicans wrote to the federal Department of Education asking it to end plans to rescind a rule making it easier for faith-based student organizations at public colleges to raise discrimination claims.

The 2020 rule established a hotline where free exercise violations could be reported, and committed the department to act on complaints.

HANOVER —Dartmouth College administrators canceled an on-campus appearance by conservative journalist Andy Ngo’s Thursday night after a deluge of online threats from Antifa members.

Ngo, who has built a national reputation covering violent, far-Left protests often given little attention by the mainstream media, was set to appear at an event hosted by the Dartmouth College Republicans and the conservative activists of Turning Point USA.  

New Hampshire Journal was turned away at the door of Moore Hall by Dartmouth security on Thursday evening. The college security officer said the event was changed to be an online appearance, but he would not say why the change was made.

“That’s a decision above my pay grade,” the security officer said.

“The administration canceled the event and gave the student organizers the choice of holding a last-minute zoom meeting or nothing at all,” Ngo told NHJournal Thursday night. “An event on violent extremism was threatened by violent extremists. It’s a cliche. Why did the College wait until two hours before the event to drop the ultimatum on organizers and speakers? Dartmouth College’s decision actually gives a blueprint for extremists to shut down future events.”

Police stand outside Dartmouth College’s Moore Hall after conservative journalist Andy Ngo’s appearance was canceled by campus administrators.

Several municipal police officers from Hanover and nearby Lebanon police departments were visible on the campus near Moore Hall Thursday evening. Hanover police declined to comment on the cancellation when contacted. 

Dartmouth College’s Associate Vice President for Communications Diana Lawrence said the event was moved online after it became clear it could not be held safely in person.

“In light of concerning information from Hanover police regarding safety issues, similar concerns expressed by the College Republican leadership, and challenges with the student organization’s ability to staff a large public event and communicate effectively (including dissemination of the visitor policy and a prohibition on bags in the building), the college has requested that the ‘Extremism in America’ panel be moved online,” Lawrence said.

There was no visible presence of protestors Thursday night. A pair of men turned away at the doors, who appeared to be in their 30s and 40s, respectively, said they were on the college campus to attend the event. They declined to answer any further questions. 

Ngo and former Antifa member Gabe Nadales were set to speak about extremism in America at the event. After Dartmouth’s order, Ngo tweeted:

“The admin of @dartmouth College canceled the live speaking event about #Antifa featuring myself & @OGNadales due to security concerns. (Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in.) This is extremely disappointing but we’re continuing in a virtual capacity.”

News of Ngo’s appearance got members of Antifa organized into planning a counterprotest in the days leading up to the event, with some making threats to stop Ngo at all costs.

Police officers stand outside Dartmouth College’s Moore Hall after an in-person appearance by conservative journalist Andy Ngo was canceled on January 20, 2022.

“When you enter our home you play by our rules, not yours,” the Northeast Antifa social media account posted. “New England is anti-fascists, and we will hold that line till death.”

The Green Mountain John Brown Gun Club stated online it “called up reserves” of Antifa super soldiers to be on hand for the event. A member of a Portland, Ore. Antifa group, Jonathan Dylan Chase, offered money for anyone who managed to assault Ngo during his Dartmouth appearance.

Antifa is a decentralized organization of people who claim to be anti-fascists and has been at the heart of violent street protests for years, clashing with both innocent political protestors and aggressive white supremacists along the way. Members of Antifa have engaged in violent protests in Portland, Ore. over the past few years, where Ngo gained fame covering the clashes between Portland’s Antifa and white supremacists like the Proud Boys. 

Ngo has been accused of serving as a propagandist for the Proud Boys in exchange for protection at the protests, something he has denied. Ngo was assaulted by Antifa protesters in 2019 in an incident in which he was punched repeatedly and hospitalized due to his injuries.

Dartmouth, once a bastion of free speech, has evolved like many progressive campuses to be hostile territory for speakers from the Right. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) ranks Dartmouth 63rd in the nation for its campus culture supporting free speech.

Lawrence said the college strives to make sure all viewpoints are heard on campus, so long as it can be done safely. 

“Dartmouth prizes and defends the right of free speech and the freedom of the individual to make their own disclosures, while at the same time recognizing that such freedom exists in the context of the law and in responsibility for one’s own actions. The exercise of these rights must not deny the same rights to any other individual. The institution therefore both fosters and protects the rights of individuals to express dissent,” Lawerence said. “Protest or demonstration shall not be discouraged so long as neither force nor the threat of force is used, and so long as the orderly processes of the institution are not deliberately obstructed.” 

Last year’s appearance by Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) drew a crowd from the Democratic Socialist Club at Dartmouth, and liberals on campus reportedly engaged in vandalism of the posters for the event.

The Democratic Socialist Club protest itself descended into obscene anti-police chants directed at the sole Hanover police officer observing the proceedings, though there was no reported violence at the event.