ADF Ramps Up Fight for Academic Freedom

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Alliance Defense Fund’s new Center for Academic Freedom will work to “end the unconstitutional persecution and coercive indoctrination of Christian students on public university campuses,” according to the center’s new director, ADF Senior Legal Counsel David French.

“Christian students shouldn’t be treated differently from other students on our nation’s university campuses,” French said. “ADF’s desire is to defend Christian students from having their religious expression marginalized by university officials, but we also desire to assist those officials in understanding what the Constitution really says about the free religious expression rights of students. ADF is interested in seeing public universities adopt sound policies in this regard that are in accord with the First Amendment.”

French is the former president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a civil liberties organization dedicated to the defense of student religious expression at institutions of higher education. French is a graduate of Harvard Law School, lectured on legal methods and ethics at Cornell Law School, and served as lead counsel for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Religious Freedom Crisis Team.

French is the author of FIRE’s Guide to Religious Liberty on Campus (2003) and co-author of FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus (2004). He is also author of A Season for Justice: Defending the Rights of the Christian Home, Church, and School (2002).

“ADF is excited to have an attorney of David French’s vision in combating censorship against Christian expression on public university campuses,” said ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull. “David is a man of tremendous credibility and effectiveness. Free religious expression for students has long been a pivotal and high-priority concern of ours, and the addition of David to the ADF team can only improve our efforts, focus, and determination.”

ADF is a legal alliance defending America’s first liberty–religious freedom–through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.

Reprinted with permision.