Lark v. Lacy
| Decision Date | 15 April 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 99 Civ. 0228(CM).,99 Civ. 0228(CM). |
| Citation | 43 F.Supp.2d 449 |
| Parties | Andrea LARK and the New York City Church of Christ, Plaintiffs, v. William LACY, President, Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY); William Frankel, Director of Student Development and Campus Activities; Ronald Herron, Vice President of Student Affairs; Cindy Long Porter, Judicial Officer for The Office of Residential Life; Paul Nicholson, Director of The Educational Opportunity Program; Christopher Beach, Director of the Performing Arts Center at SUNY (PAC); David Baer, Manager of the PAC; Thomas F. Egan, Erland E. Kailbourne, Edward F. Cox, Randy A. Daniels, Candace DeRussy, Arnold B. Gardner, Louis T. Howard, Pamela R. Jacobs, Nicole Kim, Miles L. Lasser, Edward S. Nelson, Celine R. Paquete, Paul R. Perez, Celine Traylor and Harvey F. Wachsman, as Members of the SUNY Board of Trustees; All in Their Individual and Official Capacities, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Jonathan S. Abady, Emery, Cuti, Brinckerhoff & Abady P.C., New York City, for Andrea Lark, plaintiffs.
Richard Lombardo, Atty. General of the State of NY, Asst. Atty. General, White Plains, NY, for defendants.
Plaintiffs Andrea Lark, a part-time student at the Purchase College of the State University of New York ("SUNY Purchase" or the "College"), and the New York City Church of Christ (the "COC"), a self-described "traditional Christian evangelical denomination" and regional affiliate of the International Church of Christ, commenced this action and brought this motion by order to show cause signed on January 12, 1999 by The Hon. Sidney Stein of this Court. The case was then transferred to White Plains and assigned to me. On this motion, Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction: (1) lifting Ms. Lark's suspension as a student at SUNY Purchase and (2) reinstating the COC's license to use the SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center (the "PAC") for the conduct of religious services during the pendency of this action.
For the following reasons, Plaintiffs' motion is denied with respect to Ms. Lark and granted with respect to the COC.
Plaintiff Andrea Lark is a member of the COC. She is currently a full-time employee of the COC as well. Ms. Lark enrolled as a full-time student at SUNY Purchase in the Spring 1997 semester. Subsequent to that semester, when Ms. Lark began working full-time for the COC, she reduced her course load to one class during each of the Fall 1997 and Spring 1998 semesters.
SUNY Purchase suspended Ms. Lark for the Fall 1998 and Spring 1999 semesters based on its determination that she had violated College policies by intimidating and harassing a fellow student. The parties have agreed to "suspend" Ms. Lark's suspension for the Spring 1999 semester while Plaintiffs' preliminary injunction motion is sub judice; accordingly, Ms. Lark is currently enrolled in one class at SUNY Purchase.1
(1) Formation of Bible Discussion Group
Sometime during the Fall of 1996, SUNY Purchase students who were members of the COC organized an informal bible discussion group to meet on the SUNY Purchase campus. The group held its weekly "Bible Talk" meetings throughout that semester and into the following year, using space provided by SUNY Purchase.2 In the fall of 1996 and again in the beginning of the Spring 1997 semester, Defendant William Frankel, Director of Student Development and Campus Activities at SUNY Purchase, expressed to Mr. Michael Dundie (a SUNY Purchase student and COC member) his concern about students who reportedly had felt pressured to participate in Bible Talk meetings. See Affidavit of William Frankel ("Frankel aff."), ¶¶ 6, 9-11. Mr. Dundie disputed the allegations and invited Mr. Frankel to attend a Bible Talk meeting, which Mr. Frankel did, along with members of his staff, early in the Spring 1997 semester. See Frankel aff., ¶¶ 11-12. Mr. Frankel observed the Bible Talk meeting, but did not speak or participate in any way. Ms. Lark found this intimidating, see Declaration of Andrea Lark ("Lark decl."), ¶ 11; see also Frankel aff., ¶ 12, but there is no evidence in this record to suggest that Mr. Frankel intended to make the discussion group members uncomfortable through his silent presence in their midst.
Mr. Frankel concluded, based upon the Bible Talk meeting he attended, that several attendees of this ostensibly studentorganized bible discussion group were not, in fact, SUNY Purchase students. See Frankel aff., ¶¶ 13, 16. One non-student participant, Jeffrey Schachinger, a COC minister and occasional "invited guest" at Bible Talk, appeared to preside over the meeting. See id.; see also Lark decl., ¶ 10.
Days later, Mr. Frankel met with Ms. Lark and Mr. Dundie (the parties dispute at whose behest), and expressed his concern that the Bible Talk meetings might be an attempt to circumvent SUNY Purchase's facility rental policy and "obtain[ ] a rental-free forum for the Reverend Schachinger under the guise of a student group meeting." Frankel aff., ¶¶ 16-17. SUNY Purchase's "Use of Facilities" policy requires that members of the public — unlike students — must obtain a permit, pay rent and comply with certain conditions in order to use certain campus facilities. See Frankel aff., ¶ 16 and Exh. A. Student groups, by contrast, may use these facilities subject to availability and prior reservation with Mr. Frankel's office. See Frankel aff., ¶ 16.
Ms. Lark alleges that Mr. Frankel advised her at this meeting that Rev. Schachinger could no longer visit or lead Bible Talk meetings and, further, that no off-campus speaker could speak or lead bible discussions without Mr. Frankel's prior approval. See Lark decl., ¶ 12. Mr. Frankel maintains that he merely asked Ms. Lark and Mr. Dundie to register outside guests (i.e., non-students attending Bible Talk) with his office. He denies barring Rev. Schachinger's future attendance or requiring "pre-clearance" of any guests. See Frankel aff., ¶¶ 17-19.
Mr. Frankel's concerns about unauthorized non-student use of campus facilities persisted and he met again with Ms. Lark and Mr. Dundie in late February 1998, at which time he reiterated that they were not to hold bible study meetings on campus without first requesting a room from his office, in accordance with College policy. They denied violating College policy in scheduling their Bible Talk meetings. The conversation then digressed to a number of other topics, including discussion of an irreverent sticker Mr. Frankel had placed on the wall of his office,3 student complaints of harassment by Bible Talk devotees and COC members, and examples of behavior that Mr. Frankel characterized as religious intolerance by various groups. At some point during the exchange, Mr. Frankel made statements that linked the COC to the Ku Klux Klan in a manner that Ms. Lark found offensive.
Around the time of his first contacts with Michael Dundie, Mr. Frankel took a keen interest in mitigating the influence of cults and other predatory groups on the SUNY Purchase student body. Mr. Frankel organized a task force on cults in February 1997, which concluded, inter alia, that the College must develop and maintain a consistent policy with respect to the rental and use of College property. See Frankel aff., ¶ 22. The committee decided to implement an educational awareness plan to train students, faculty and staff, and to distribute educational materials among the student body. One such document, entitled "A Guide to Making Safe Judgments About Destructive Groups on Campus" , provides recommendations to help students identify and avoid cults and similar "destructive" groups active on the SUNY Purchase campus. The literature mentions no allegedly destructive groups by name, but instead offers common characteristics and suggests both religious and secular resources for those seeking advice on whether to affiliate themselves with a particular group. The literature does not, as Ms. Lark alleges, criticize the COC or even mention it by name. See Lark decl., ¶ 24.
The SUNY Purchase task force also decided to sponsor a presentation by Mr. Ronald Loomis, an expert on cults with a background in student residential life and twenty years of experience studying cults and mind control. Loomis presented his cult awareness education program at SUNY Purchase on April 14, 1998, at the invitation of the College administration and the Students' Union. See Affidavit of Ronald Loomis, ¶ 8. He had previously presented similar programs at SUNY Purchase twice before, on March 2, 1992 and on November 28, 1995. See id.
At some point during the 1997-98 academic year, Ms. Lark and Mr. Dundie mentioned to Mr. Frankel their desire to obtain club status for the COC. See Lark decl., ¶ 14, Frankel aff., ¶ 21. Plaintiffs claim that, during this conversation, Mr. Frankel expressed his intention to do all he could to prevent the COC from being recognized as a student club. See Lark decl., ¶ 14. Mr. Frankel, of course, denies making this comment and avers that he suggested Ms. Lark and Mr. Dundie should contact the SUNY Purchase Students' Union concerning club status. See Frankel aff., ¶ 21. Mr. Frankel also contends that the Students' Union has exclusive control over deciding which organizations receive club status — a point Plaintiffs do not dispute — and that he has never expressed his views concerning whether a particular group should receive club status. See id.
A campus newspaper, The Pendulum, interviewed Mr. Frankel in February 1998 and questioned him about whether the SUNY Purchase administration intended to take any action with respect to the COC's solicitation activities on campus. See Frankel aff., ¶ 30. Plaintiffs refer to Mr. Frankel's...
To continue reading
Request your trial