Religious community service will now be eligible to receive Service-Learning credit at UW-Eau Claire after a lawsuit filed by two Eau Claire students was settled over the summer.

The lawsuit, between a Christian legal group called Alliance Defending Freedom and Eau Claire, was filed in November 2016 by students Alexandra Liebl and Madelyn Rysavy, who were denied Service-Learning credit for their community service performed at a local Catholic church, Newman Parish.

The two students and the legal group alleged that Eau Claire’s Service-Learning Policy violated first amendment rights of freedom of religion and freedom of expression by denying credit for “time spent involved in promoting religious doctrine, proselytizing, or worship.”

A settlement was reached in mid-May, according to the legal document, and as of July 5, the school’s policy has removed the provision discriminating against religious community service.

Travis Barham, the Alliance Defending Freedom attorney representing the women in the case, said the case was resolved quickly.

“The overall message of this case is this: You have to treat religious and nonreligious community service or religious expression and nonreligious expression the same,” Barham said. “If you target religious expression, or in this case religious community service, there are unique disadvantages, then you’re violating the first amendment.”

A letter sent in June by Eau Claire Chancellor James C. Schmidt to the University Senate Executive Committee and the Center for Service-Learning Staff outlined the university’s decision to settle on advice of legal counsel and the necessity to edit the Service-Learning Policy as part of the settlement agreement.

Mike Rindo, the Assistant Chancellor for Facilities and University Relations, stated in an email the university would not provide further comment beyond what is in the letter.

As a graduation requirement, Eau Claire students must complete 30 hours of community service.

Liebl completed her 30 hours of Service-Learning teaching second-graders at the Newman Parish during the 2015-2016 academic school year. She applied for credit in 2016 but was denied because her service violated the Service-Learning Policy.

Rysavy completed 24 hours of Service-Learning at the same church during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic years, but did not apply for credit, assuming she would be denied credit as Liebl had been.

Rysavy said that Liebl approached her about the idea of filing a lawsuit in fall 2016 and asked if she would be willing to file it together. Though Rysavy said she felt scared, she also felt “it was something you have to do.”

Liebl graduated from Eau Claire this past spring.

Now that the policy has been changed to allow faith-based service credit, Rysavy said she feels happy and relieved, not only for herself, but for others as well.

“I feel like now more people are going to be able to do the things that they not only value,” Rysavy said. “I feel like service learning, obviously you have to help out the community, but I feel like it makes it a lot easier when you’re doing something that you feel passionate about too.

Additionally, she said she thinks “the passion is going to radiate to other people in the community.”

“By giving people more options in terms of what they can do, I think that’s really important,” Rysavy said. “I feel like it adds to the diversity of this campus though too, allowing people of faith to come forward and express their faith.”