By Mary Frances McCarthy
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 6/10/04)

Last week it was reported in The Washington Post that Catholic University has blocked a group of students from creating a chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on its Washington campus.

William Jawando, a graduate of Catholic who will attend law school there this fall, attempted to start the NAACP chapter on campus. In April, Jawando received e-mail notification that his request was denied by the Office of the University Center, Student Programs and Events, a division of the Student Life Office.

In order to have an organization recognized by the university, students must apply to the Office of the University Center, Student Programs and Events.

"The primary reason that we denied recognition did not have anything to do with the merits of the NAACP," said Victor Nakas, university director of public affairs. "The student did not give a compelling reason for the need of the organization."

Nakas explained that Catholic University has a policy against multiple organizations serving the same purpose. The school has the Black Organization of Students at Catholic University of America (BOSCUA), and Minority Voices, an umbrella group for minority organizations. Nakas said an NAACP chapter would cause "redundancy and overlap."

It is not unprecedented for the school to refuse to recognize a student group. "We don’t rubber stamp every request (for an organization) that comes across the desk of student life," Nakas said. The university instead wants to strengthen existing organizations and will only approve a new student group if it fills a need not already met.

However, the fact that the NAACP is a pro-choice organization is also a factor in the university’s denial to recognize a chapter.

In a press release issued in February, the NAACP announced publicly that its board of directors "endorsed the principle that women have the right to equal access to family planning materials, information and choice when it comes to birth control."

The resolution approved by the board of directors in February said, "A woman denied the right to control her own body is denied equal protection of the law, a right the NAACP has fought for and defended for nearly 100 years."

Citing public opinion surveys, the press release said that "women of color seek abortions at rates higher than their percentage in the population." Rather than help these women find alternatives to abortions, the Board of Directors Chair Julian Bond said, "This is an issue of equal rights, and we are pleased to join those insisting on a woman’s right to control her own body."

Included in the February press release was a plea to urge "‘all who believe in equal rights’ to attend the ‘March for Women’s Lives’ pro-choice rally in Washington, D.C., on April 25."

About 150 colleges across the nation, including Georgetown University and Trinity College in Washington, have chapters on campus, according to an NAACP spokeswoman.

While the issue of abortion rights advocacy was not the primary reason for the university denying the request to create an NAACP chapter, the issue is "a factor we never neglect because we always steadfastly uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church and would apply that rule to any group," Nakas said. In deciding whether or not to recognize any group on campus, the school does consider the questions of what the group stands for and what positions they advocate.

"Because it is the national university of the Catholic Church in our country, The Catholic University of America does not foster or promote any organizations that represent or advocate positions contrary to the mission of the university, which mission includes the teachings of the Catholic Church," Nakas said.

Georgetown University, a Jesuit-run school, has an NAACP chapter on campus. The group has been present on campus since the early 1970s. "The university does not provide access to benefits for organizations with an advocacy agenda that is contrary to Catholic Church teaching," said University Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson in a press release last week. "The GU NAACP chapter’s constitution does not reflect such an advocacy agenda." Student groups at Georgetown are required to submit a constitution explaining their agenda and activities when they apply for university recognition.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume called a press conference last Friday on Michigan Ave. N.W., adjacent to the campus of Catholic University. He claimed it is "outright discrimination, bigotry, prejudice and intolerance all rolled into one" that university officials denied an NAACP chapter on campus. Mfume said that Catholic University has a double standard, that the NAACP does not run "contrary to the philosophy of Catholic institutions, because for years we have, and still have, had student chapters of the NAACP on the campuses of other Catholic schools such as Georgetown, Trinity College, Fordham and St. John’s.

"We have come here today to register our outrage at the narrow-minded decision of Catholic University to ban the existence of a student chapter of the NAACP that seeks only to work on behalf of civil rights; we promise to come back again and again, until this type of bigotry, prejudice and intolerance no longer exists, even if that means fighting and waiting until hell freezes over. If necessary we are prepared to go to court to bring litigation against Catholic University for violating what we believe is the right of all students in America to free association and equal protection under the law."