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InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and five other evangelical groups still hope to reverse Georgetown University's August decision to eject them from the Washington, D.C., campus.

Protestant chaplain Constance Wheeler notified the evangelical groups on August 14 that they would not be allowed to advertise Georgetown as a ministry site or sponsor events such as Bible studies and worship services. If the 300 affiliated students wanted to continue meeting as members of those organizations, she said, they would need to meet off campus.

"While we realize this comes as a great disappointment," Wheeler told them in the letter, "please know we are moving forward with this decision only after much dialogue with the Lord."

InterVarsity president Alec Hill, whose daughter attends Georgetown, noted the discontinuity between the decision and the school's commitment to diversity.

"As a parent, I am surprised Georgetown as a major university would close down freedom of association for their students," Hill said. "That seems contrary to Georgetown's ethos. It's an open marketplace of ideas."

Georgetown spokesman Erik Smulson said the Catholic university wants to build its own Protestant ministry, rather than relying on outside groups.

Georgetown InterVarsity leader Kevin Offner said the chaplains have been nervous about evangelicals for the past few years.

"The thing that really felt hurtful is when they go to the press and say, 'We're restructuring,'" Offner said. "The reality is they've made it very hard on the evangelical groups in the past two years. They could've just said, 'There's just tension.'"

One chaplain told the groups they were being dismissed because the college could not control what they did or said, according to Chi Alpha Georgetown director Shawn Galyen.

"He gave the example that outside groups could come on and say something crazy like, 'Let's bomb Palestine,'" Galyen said. "[He] reiterated that they did not have control over us and what we said or did, and did not want the liability."

InterVarsity previously signed a covenant with Georgetown that included a promise not to proselytize, Offner said. Since the meaning of the word is often unclear, group members sought and received assurances from chaplains that the statement did not preclude evangelism.

"It's a very diverse religious community on campus, but there's always been difficulty with the evangelical groups," said Nathanel Oakes, a Georgetown senior and InterVarsity member. "They feel they can't trust us to not proselytize students."

On the first day of class, students collected 400 signatures protesting the decision. Smulson said Protestant chaplains have been holding listening sessions with students.

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The Hoya ran a copy of Wheeler's letter.

Other news coverage includes:

Chaplain resigns to protest ministry | A part-time chaplain in the Office of Protestant Ministry resigned last week after just five weeks on the job over the university's decision last month to bar several affiliated Protestant ministries from campus (The Hoya, Georgetown U., Oct. 3)

Georgetown University chaplain quits amid campus ministry woes | The Rev. Derrick Harkins said the Campus Ministry staff was now too small for its needs and that the decision to rescind was "very strong-handed" (The Washington Post, second item, Sept. 29)

Georgetown chaplain resigns | A Protestant chaplain at Georgetown University has resigned amid fallout from the school barring outside evangelical groups from having an official presence on campus (The Washington Times, Sept. 28)

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November 2006, Vol. 50, No. 11