Utah legislators are considering a bill that would require public colleges and universities to offer alternate assignments when the coursework may violate a student’s core beliefs due to religious or conscientious objections.
House Bill 204 is sponsored by Rep. Michael J. Petersen, with approval from the Utah House Education Committee. The bill would require higher education institutions to accommodate students when the coursework conflicts with their personal beliefs, as long as it does not challenge the academic standards of the course.
Peterson shared an experience with his daughter that inspired the bill.
“She called and said, ‘I’m supposed to write a letter to a legislator advocating for LGBTQ policy,’ and she asked if I could help her,” Peterson said. “As I’ve been holding town halls, I’ve had several people come and tell me they’ve had similar kinds of situations where they’ve been given assignments that violated their conscience.”
Robin Wilson, a law professor at the University of Illinois, said that forcing a student to violate their beliefs is a violation of First Amendment rights.
Some argue that the bill would overall make education outcomes worse by allowing students to limit their access to difficult content.
“Exempting students or providing accommodations around assignments that violate their conscious objection decreases the viewpoint diversity and doesn’t expose students to these challenging views,” said Gabe Byars, an occupational therapy professor at Salt Lake Community College.
Brianne Kramer, Southern Utah University chapter president of the American Federation of Teachers Utah College Council, also opposed the bill.
“These programs are not free to decide what to teach. We are required by accrediting bodies to ensure that every student demonstrates specific mandatory competencies,” Kramer said. “If a student can opt out of required material based on a conscience objection, that student may not be able to meet licensure requirements.”
However, Wilson said that it will still remain up to the institutions whether or not an accommodation would negatively affect the student’s ability to complete the course requirements. She also said that students would not be allowed to enroll in a program they wouldn’t be able to complete due to religious or conscience objections.
Author: Lainey Porter
Photo: courtesy of Spenser Heaps, Utah News Dispatch
Editor: Hannah Clove
news@suunews.net
