EXCLUSIVE: Oklahoma Senator Reintroduces Bill Protecting Religious Groups on Campus

Sen. James Lankford says he will be reintroducing legislation Thursday to protect religious student organizations on campus from being discriminated against because of their religious beliefs, practices, or standards for leadership. 

“Freedom of religion, speech, and association are constitutionally protected rights in every place in America, including America’s campuses,” Lankford, R-Okla., told The Daily Signal.

Lankford is a longtime advocate for religious freedom on America’s college campuses, having urged the Biden administration to uphold Trump-era religious liberty protections in a public comment with several other senators and in a letter to then-Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

“This bill makes clear that public colleges must grant religious student organizations the same rights as every other student group. At a time when our nation needs hope and unity, the ability to exercise your faith must be protected, not cast aside,” the Oklahoma senator said of the legislation, initially introduced in March 2023.

Lankford’s legislation, the Equal Campus Access Act of 2025, would prevent federal funding that is allocated under the Higher Education Act of 1965 from being awarded to any public institution of higher education that denies to a religious student organization any right or benefit it gives to other student groups because of the religious student organization’s religious beliefs, practices, or standards for leadership. 

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is also set to speak on the legislation tomorrow with 24 senators co-sponsoring the bill. The legislation also will be introduced in the House of Representatives, where Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Education Committee, is its sponsor. 

“All too frequently, we hear about instances of students’ free speech and free association being restricted on college campuses, especially due to their religious beliefs,” Walberg told The Daily Signal.

“While the Trump administration and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to protecting student liberties on campuses, we’ve seen other administrations try to undermine the foundational principle of academic freedom and the right to religious expression. Our legislation will ensure that future administrations cannot erode religious freedom and ideological diversity on college campuses,” the Michigan congressman said. 

The legislation has been endorsed by 50 representatives of major religious organizations across the denominational and sectarian spectrum in the United States. That list includes Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Basharat Saleem, the executive director at the Islamic Society of North America; Donna M. Carroll, the president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities; and Galen Carey, the vice president of government relations at the National Association of Evangelicals. 

Most of the religious leaders also signed a letter supporting the bill, which stated in part, “Faith-based student organizations should not face discrimination on college campuses  solely because they require their leaders to agree with their core religious beliefs. Basic religious freedom—and common sense—require that a religious group be permitted to require that its leaders agree with its religious message and mission. Unfortunately, on too  many college campuses, religious student organizations are denied this essential freedom.”

The bill has also been endorsed by Alliance Defending Freedom, which is known for its legal defense of religious liberty. 

The introduction of the legislation comes in the aftermath of the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk, who was killed by a gunman Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. Kirk was a free speech activist known for standing up for Christian principles in the public square.

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