Montana § 20-25-518 - Discrimination Against Student Organizations Prohibited

§ 20-25-518. Discrimination Against Student Organizations Prohibited

Discrimination against student organizations prohibited. (1) A public postsecondary institution may not deny a religious, political, or ideological student organization a benefit or privilege available to other student organizations or otherwise discriminate against a student organization based on the student organization's expressive activity, including any requirement of the student organization that a leader or member: (a) affirm and adhere to the student organization's sincerely held beliefs; (b) comply with the student organization's standards of conduct; or (c) further the student organization's mission or purpose, as defined by the student organization. (2) As used in 20-25-519 and this section, the following definitions apply: (a) "Benefit or privilege" means any type of advantage, including but not limited to: (i) recognition; (ii) registration; (iii) the use of facilities of the public postsecondary institution for meetings or speaking purposes; (iv) the use of channels of communication; and (v) funding sources that are otherwise available to other student organizations at the public postsecondary institution. (b) "Public postsecondary institution" means: (i) a unit of the Montana university system as defined in 20-25-201 ; or (ii) a Montana community college, defined and organized as provided in 20-15-101 . (c) "Student organization" means an officially recognized group or a group seeking official recognition at a public postsecondary institution that is composed of students who receive or are seeking to receive a benefit through the public postsecondary institution.