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2001 Georgia Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2001)

handle is hein.sag/sagga0035 and id is 1 raw text is: AG Opinions - Jt~zrtmvnt of Uhfr --of THURBERT E. BAKER 40 CAPITOL SOUARE SW ATTORNEY GENERAL ATLANTA. GA 303344300 OFFICIAL OPINION 2001-1 To: Chancellor March 2, 2001 University System of Georgia Re: There is no legal impediment to a University System institution's allowing a student, upon the student's request, to satisfy an internship requirement at a sectarian facility which by policy limits staff and internship employment to persons of its particular religious faith or persuasion, and that disallowance would be in violation of the student's First Amendment rights where the permission is denied solely because of the facility's religious character and exclusivity policies. Your letter of September 29, 2000, together with its appended documentary materials, relates to a problem which has arisen in connection with the internship requirements of a university's academic program. Your materials indicate that hundreds of students have been satisfying their internships each year at remote internship sites where the students are exposed to clinical and professional experience of educational value, with the student receiving academic credit for the internship experience. In some instances, the internship sites or facilities selected by the students have had religious or church affiliations. Typically, the organization or facility enters into a memorandum of understanding with the university (which expressly disclaims being a contract or any way affecting the legal rights or obligations of the parties), containing, among other things, a standard non-discrimination clause. The problem which has arisen has to do with a student who desires to satisfy this internship requirement at a facility or site operated by a church or religious organization which maintains a policy of religious exclusivity as to staff and intern employment. Your inquiry centers on whether or not the university may allow the student to satisfy the internship requirement at a sectarian facility which by policy limits its staff and intern employment to persons of its particular religious faith or persuasion. Looking at your specific questions, I will state each in turn, and follow it with my opinion and supporting reasons. 1. May a University System institution permit a student to satisfy an internship requirement of one of its academic programs at a private sectarian facility or institution which confines staff and intern employment to persons of that particular religious faith or persuasion? If so, may a student be required to identify his or her religious belief prior to participation in such an internship program? In my opinion there is no legal impediment to a University System institution allowing a student to satisfy an internship requirement at a sectarian facility which, in furtherance of what it believes to be its religious mission, limits staff and internship employment in its educational programs, functions and activities to persons sharing its particular religious faith and belief. I think that this is what current Supreme Court jurisprudence calls for respecting core First Amendment speech rights, including the Pagel1 of 3

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