Comment on Anti-abortion student group gets rejection reversed at University of Northern Iowa

The University of Northern Iowa administration has upended a recent student government decision refusing an anti-abortion student group chapter status on campus.UNI President Mark Nook’s finding that the Northern Iowa Student Government was not content-neutral in its decision-making means Students for Life of America now is a registered UNI student organization.In Nook’s eight-page ruling that found, if left to stand, the student government’s decision would have violated the First Amendment, he wrote, “Universities exist to give students and all members of the university community an opportunity to wrestle with a vast diversity of ideas and opinions, to challenge their perception of their own identity and the beliefs and opinions of others, and to grow in their understanding of natural and social systems.” UNI Students for Life, according to university officials, met criteria required for registration as a student organization when the student government’s student senate rejected its request Oct.