Christian students have filed a lawsuit against Virginia State University (VSU) after the school placed Christian student groups under the institution’s control, which is not an action it has taken against Muslim and other non-Christian student organizations. Kristen Waggoner of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has outlined the case against VSU and their unconstitutional policy in a post on X.
“Virginia State University (VSU) is facing a federal lawsuit from two Christian student organizations that say the school stripped them of their official campus status and placed them under the direct authority of a university-appointed minister,” Waggoner said at the beginning of her post on the case. She then shared a quote from ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer from his interview on Fox News.
“Higher education has really broke from its long-standing desire to promote intellectual diversity and to actually seek truth, and, instead, they are essentially telling students that any disagreement, that certain speech is violence and that hearing difference of opinions on important topics is actually not encouraged. It’s actually discouraged,” Langhofer said to the network.
“I think that higher education is really failing in its primary role, which is to educate the next generation … how to deal with living in a pluralistic society with people who have different opinions,” he added, according to Townhall. The lawsuit directly challenges the updated Campus Ministries Policy from VSU, which plaintiffs say violates the First Amendment by forcing Christian student groups under university control while giving non-Christian organizations exemptions.
ADF has decided to represent two organizations on VSU’s campus: Women of Victory and Bethel Campus Fellowship. Both of these groups are part of national organizations that have been recognized by the school for many years. The new oversight puts these groups under extremely strict oversight from a “Campus Minister” that is appointed by the university. In this case it’s Thomas Wynn.
Groups cannot plan any events, invite a guest speaker to deliver an address, or fundraise without having Wynn’s approval. Even more egregious, Sunday morning shuttles that provided students with rides to local churches were completely eliminated. Wynn said that VSU “wants to crack down on transportation to outside churches.”
He even reprimanded a Christian club for having an informal pajama party without first getting his consent. Strangely, the rules being applied to Christian organizations are not being applied to groups of other faiths. The Muslim Students Association does not have these restrictions and is explicitly stated to be exempt from VSU policy.
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Meanwhile, the Muslim Students Association has no such restrictions. It is explicitly exempt from the policy.
When asked why the policy only targets Christian groups, the Campus Minister said: “Because you are all faith-based … because you purport Jesus Christ and faith.” 5/ pic.twitter.com/GyMwlyURz8
— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) October 13, 2026
When the Women of Victory decided to hold their pajama party, it was just for fun over a holiday weekend. The only purpose of the event was for members of the group to come together and enjoy each other’s company. When Wynn found out, he scolded the group’s student leader and told her that even informal meetings required him to be given advance notice.
When Wynn was pressed about the disparity, his answer was appalling. He said, “Because you are all faith-based…because you purport Jesus Christ and faith.” Waggoner went on to say that the school’s policy is “blatantly unconstitutional” and specifically attacks Christian groups to keep them from free assembly, a right guaranteed under the First Amendment.