Students who publish Christian paper sue Okla. university over religious funding policy

OKLAHOMA — Two University of Oklahoma students who runa Christian campus newspaper have filed a lawsuit against the school, claimingthat a school policy barring the use of student fees for ”religiousservices” violates their rights to a free press and freespeech.The lawsuit was filed in U.S. district court on Feb. 20 by theAlliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based civil-liberties group, on behalf ofstudents Ricky Thomas and James Wickett. Thomas and Wickett work for theBeacon OU, a paper that provides ”news from or with a Christianperspective.”The lawsuit, which names the university president andthe OU Board of Regents as defendants, states that ”university policyprohibits student organizations from using funds obtained from the University ofOklahoma Student Association for