Christian Students Sue Michigan Professor for Allegedly Forcing Class to Fund Planned Parenthood
A lawsuit filed by two Michigan State University students alleges that a professor at the school forced her class to fund her personal political organization, which funneled funds to Planned Parenthood.
Two students, Nathan Barbieri and Nolan Radomski, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) claim in their lawsuit that former Michigan State University professor of marketing Amy Wisner required her class of 600 people to pay $99 each as a membership to “The Rebellion community,” a political activism organization. Wisner told students that the fees were a requirement to complete her course.
The lawsuit alleges that “The Rebellion Community” is operated by Wisner, who said in a Facebook post that funneled all of the fees collected by her students directly to Planned Parenthood. “100% of membership fees are donated to Planned Parenthood,” she wrote. The plaintiffs are pro-life.
Wisner said that “The Rebellion Community” would support organizations “dismantling oppressive systems.” “The Rebellion community is a safe place to coordinate our efforts to burn everything to the f**king ground,” Wisner’s organization posted to Facebook.
The lawsuit filed by students states, “Plaintiffs wish to continue their education without being forced to join groups or support the expression of other groups that contradict their views or advocate for and engage in practices they believe are harmful and immoral.” Because the students were forced to fund an organization that directly opposed their deeply held religious and moral views, the students and ADF argue that their First Amendment rights had been violated.
“University professors can’t force students to finance and support political advocacy groups that express messages they disagree with. Nathan and Nolan simply want to get a business degree without being compelled to pay membership fees that will be donated to Planned Parenthood or support speech that directly contradicts their religious beliefs.”
“Michigan State officials have violated the First Amendment and federal civil rights laws by authorizing professors to force students to support speech antithetical to their deepest values and faith.”
ADF Legal Counsel Logan Spena
In the syllabus provided to students at the beginning of the course, Wisner stated that the fees would be allocated to technology use in the classroom as well as guest lecturers. The paperwork assured students the professor would not receive any financial compensation from the funds, because that would be “a conflict of interest.”
After the lawsuit was filed, Michigan State University did relieve the professor of her duties, however when asked for comment only stated, “The university does not comment on pending litigation.”
