News/Commentary

Michigan college professor sued for forcing students to fund Planned Parenthood through ‘course fees’

May 25, 2023 | | Print Article

Two Christian Michigan State University students have sued their former business marketing professor claiming she’d essentially forced them to make indirect donations to left-wing organizations, including Planned Parenthood.

Second-year business sophomores Nathan Barbieri and Nolan Radomski say former Eli Broad College of Business professor Amy Wisner charged a $99 course fee for her class, and that the fee was used to support Wisner’s organization, The Rebellion Community.

The problem is that The Rebellion Community is a far-left organization that funnels money to equally far-left organizations like Planned Parenthood.

“Defendant Wisner controlled The Rebellion Community and used the membership fees to finance her own political advocacy and to support external groups — including Planned Parenthood — that engage in political speech that is antithetical to the plaintiffs’ deeply held beliefs,” the lawsuit argues, according to the Lansing State Journal.

“Plaintiffs were aghast to learn that the fees they were compelled to pay as membership fees would be donated to Planned Parenthood. Plaintiffs believe that Defendant Wisner has forced them to materially support the homicide of innocent children,” the lawsuit continues.

The lawsuit also notes that the two students are opposed to Wisner’s teaching of critical race theory and that the two students further both believe in traditional marriage.

“Plaintiffs believe that God’s design for marriage, sexuality, and family (which Defendant Wisner would imprecisely lump into the concept of ‘patriarchy’) is good for both men and women and they oppose efforts to ‘smash’ this order,” the suit reads.

The two students are being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal firm that protects the rights of conservatives.

In a press release published on Monday, ADF attorney Logan Spena stressed that professors “can’t force students to finance and support political advocacy groups that express messages they disagree with.”

“Nathan and Nolan simply want to get a business degree without being compelled to pay membership fees that will be donated to Planned Parenthood or support speech that directly contradicts their religious beliefs,” he said.

“Michigan State officials have violated the First Amendment and federal civil rights laws by authorizing professors to force students to support speech antithetical to their deepest values and faith,” he added.

Note that the suit also names interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko and interim Dean of the Eli Broad College of Business Judith Whipple.

A report about Wisner’s behavior first emerged in February via the Young America’s Foundation.

“Amy Wisner, a professor at Michigan State University, is on temporary leave after requiring students enrolled in her Marketing Communications course to purchase annually renewing subscriptions to her personal “Patriarchy Rebellion Community” website,” YAF reported at the time.

By March, she’d reportedly been fired. However, she was reportedly allowed to leave the school without recompensing her students.

Speaking with Fox News this week, ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer said the primary goal of the lawsuit was for the students to be paid back, with a secondary goal being for the university to stop allowing professors to pull this shtick.

“We’re basically asking for all the money that she received to be given back to the students and then to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Nathan has two more years at the school. He doesn’t want professors to be able to do this. So we’re asking the court to order the university not to allow this to happen in the future,” he said.

“I’ve seen a lot of bad actions in my litigation, but this is definitely one of the top ones because she’s got 600 students at her mercy, and she did abuse that power,” he added.

Both Barbieri and Radomski also spoke with Fox News.

“I hold true to my Christian beliefs. [My faith] really pushed me to get out there and do something about it, because I knew if I didn’t, you know, and if nobody else did, what stops this from happening again and again,” Barbieri said.

“Not only was it wrong in what she was doing, I mean… you shouldn’t be taking money for political activism from your students, especially forcefully because you can’t pass the class without this. But definitely finding out, seeing Planned Parenthood and organizations like that are completely against my religious and my political beliefs really struck me,” he added.

“I shouldn’t have to pay for my professor’s political activism… This is a matter of free speech and I hope that the university changes its policy so that other students never have to pay expensive fees toward causes they don’t believe in,” Radomski likewise said.

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Vivek Saxena
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