The event featured a speaker who’s an opponent of affirmative action. YAL is now suing the school.

Chelsea Hoedl of MLive has the story.

Student group sues University of Michigan over denial of funding for event

A student group has sued the University of Michigan, claiming it was improperly denied funding for an event featuring a prominent affirmative action opponent.

On Oct. 22, Young Americans for Liberty hosted Jennifer Gratz, who gave a presentation entitled “Diversity in Race v. Diversity in Ideas: The Michigan Affirmative Action Debate.”

Gratz won a high-profile lawsuit against the university in 2003, which put an end to U-M’s point-based undergraduate admission system that automatically gave black students points based on their race. She also was one of the organizers behind the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which in 2006 won voter approval for Proposal 2, which banned affirmative action in college admissions and state hiring practices.

According tot the lawsuit, Young Americans for Liberty submitted an application on Nov. 14 requesting $1,000 in funding from student fees to cover the event. The university turned down the request, saying that such funding cannot be granted for political events, the lawsuit alleges.

The Student Organization Funding Commission at the University allocates approximately $300,000 every year to student organizations, according to the complaint. Funds come from mandatory student fees.

An appeal of the funding denial was submitted and denied on Dec. 3 by the SOFC, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit claims that although the university has a policy prohibiting funding for political and religious activities of student organizations, the Student Organization Funding Commission has provided such funding to other groups.