National Guard member sues Virginia over denial of tuition assistance for theology studies

A federal civil rights lawsuit is challenging the denial of state tuition assistance in Virginia to a National Guard member who is studying theology as a pathway to becoming a military chaplain. The case centers on whether the state’s exclusion of religious or theological degrees from specific tuition grants violates constitutional protections.

Trace Stevens, along with two other students pursuing religion or theology degrees, are seeking to overturn a district court decision that allowed Virginia to exclude them from state tuition grants based on their field of study. The students, enrolled at Liberty University, a private evangelical Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., have appealed their case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

In Johnson v. Fleming, the students’ attorneys argue that Virginia violated the First and 14th Amendments by disqualifying them from state tuition grants “solely for pursuing religious or theological degrees.” The students were denied funds from the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant and the Virginia National Guard Tuition State Assistance Grant, according to the complaint.

Both grant programs exclude students who select certain ineligible religious programs, as stated by Alliance Defending Freedom, the law firm representing the students. “Policies that treat religious students as second-class citizens have no place in our laws,” said attorney John Bursch.

Stevens graduated from Liberty University with an undergraduate degree in religion and is enrolled in a Master of Divinity program with the goal of becoming a military chaplain. Although his undergraduate religion major was approved for the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant, the Virginia Department of Military Affairs denied him a National Guard grant, attorneys said. His current graduate program also was deemed ineligible, according to attorneys.

“Students can pursue myriad different secular programs and even some religious programs in college while remaining eligible for both the State Tuition Assistance and National Guard Grants,” the lawsuit states. “But the one thing they cannot pursue are programs that government officials deem to be for religious training or theological education.”

Attorneys for Stevens said that the National Guard employs — and its members benefit from — individuals who train for and pursue posts as military chaplains. The lawsuit names as defendants several Virginia state officials, including A. Scott Fleming, director of the Virginia Department of Military Affairs.

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