{"id":1985848,"date":"2023-07-29T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-29T18:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-targets-christian-student-pays-the-price-when-she-takes-it-to-court\/"},"modified":"2023-07-29T14:31:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-29T18:31:17","slug":"university-targets-christian-student-pays-the-price-when-she-takes-it-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-targets-christian-student-pays-the-price-when-she-takes-it-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"University sued for targeting Christian student."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funiversity-targets-christian-student-pays-the-price-when-she-takes-it-to-court%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1985848&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>University Targets Christian Student, Pays\u2063 the Price When \u200cShe Takes It to Court<\/h2>\n<p>Officials at a college in Illinois are facing the consequences after a Christian student sued them for violating her First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2022, Maggie DeJong, \u2064a grad student\u200d at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, was hit with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/christian-student-suing-college-receiving-no-contact-orders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">no-contact\u200c orders<\/a> from the\u2063 university barring \u200bher from communicating with three students who\u200c had\u2064 complained about her expressing her conservative Christian beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>While \u200bthe orders were rescinded \u2064after SIUE received a <a href=\"https:\/\/adfmedialegalfiles.blob.core.windows.net\/files\/DeJongLetter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> \u2063from DeJong\u2019s attorney, they were later\u200d reinstated. As a result, DeJong took the university to court with the help of the\u2062 conservative legal group Alliance Defending \u2063Freedom.<\/p>\n<p>Now,\u2062 ADF is reporting victory for DeJong, and SIUE\u2062 is being\u2062 forced to pay up for violating her right to free speech.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the settlement reached between the parties, ADF attorneys will be conducting a \u201cFirst \u2063Amendment training session\u201d with three SIUE professors, according to an ADF <a href=\"https:\/\/adfmedia.org\/case\/dejong-v-pembrook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news\u200b release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>University officials also agreed to revise their policies to allow for freedom of expression in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-will-pay-christian-student-80k-for-silencing-conservative-views\/\" title=\"Christian student awarded k by university for suppressing conservative opinions.\">art therapy program<\/a>, which DeJong was a part of, and to \u200cpay \u200cher $80,000.<\/p>\n<p>ADF legal counsel \u2063Matthew Hoffman celebrated the ruling in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPublic universities can\u2019t punish students for expressing their political and religious \u2063viewpoints,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Is Christianity under attack\u200b in academia?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Yes<\/li>\n<li>No<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"firefly-poll-disclaimer\">Completing \u2064this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge. \u2064You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/about\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy Policy<\/a> \u2064and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/about\/terms-service\/\">Terms of Use<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cMaggie, like every other \u2064student,\u200d is protected under the First Amendment \u2062to respectfully share her personal beliefs, and university officials were wrong to issue gag orders and silence her speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a result of Maggie\u2019s courage in filing suit, SIUE has agreed\u2064 to take critical steps to comply with the law and the U.S. Constitution and move closer to accepting and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-college-required-to-pay-80k-to-christian-student-to-settle-lawsuit\/\" title=\"Illinois college pays K to Christian student in lawsuit settlement.\">embracing true diversity<\/a> of thought and speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Watch the latest video at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\">foxnews.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>DeJong\u2019s story should serve as a warning to college administrators, but also as a message of hope for conservative \u200cstudents.<\/p>\n<p>There is a war on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/famous-atheist-richard-dawkins-former-right-hand-man-converts-christianity-realizing-truth-jesus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christianity<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/university-targets-christian-student-pays-the-price-when-she-takes-it-to-court\/\" title=\"University sued for targeting Christian student.\">conservatism taking place<\/a> in higher education, as almost all universities are under leftist control. Given\u200d the left\u2019s indifference to the Constitution, they will go to great lengths to\u200c censor dissenting opinions.<\/p>\n<p>Christian students who attend these universities should expect to be mistreated by classmates \u200dand officials for expressing their beliefs. \u2064They \u2063should not be surprised when they are faced with a situation\u200b similar to DeJong\u2019s \u2014 \u200dalthough her lawsuit will hopefully deter the more overt forms of suppression.<\/p>\n<p>We would do well to remember the words of Christ in the Gospel of John: \u201cIf the world hates \u2064you, know that it\u200c has hated me before it hated you. \u200cIf you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not \u200dof the world, but I chose you out of the\u200d world,\u200d therefore the world hates you\u201d (John 15:18-19).<\/p>\n<p>But this story also reminds\u200b us\u200b that when \u200bChristians stand firm \u200din their beliefs, they can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/christian-arrested-attending-outdoor-worship-service-no-mask-celebrates-victory-blue-city-pays\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">win victories<\/a> even \u200din our day and age. DeJong stood up to her school\u2019s unjust policies\u200d and \u2064came out on top.<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives \u2064cannot be passive victims of leftist aggression. They need to be willing to fight back and show them that there will be consequences for\u2062 their unconstitutional actions.<\/p>\n<p>If other college students can be as brave as Maggie DeJong, \u200dthen the left will be forced to back down from its radical tactics.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/university-targets-christian-student-pays-price-takes-court\/\">University Targets\u2062 Christian Student, Pays the Price When She Takes It to Court<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The\u2064 Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Illinois college officials face consequences as a Christian student sues them for violating her First Amendment rights. In February 2022, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville grad student Maggie DeJong received no-contact orders from the university, preventing her from communicating with three students who had filed complaints against her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2016,"featured_media":1985849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1985848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2016"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1985848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1985849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1985848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1985848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1985848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}