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Ron Rosenberger was only one person among thousands of University of Virginia students willing to risk his academic career by taking a stand against the university’s intolerant policies. With only a few months left to graduate, it would have been so much easier to do nothing, but Ron refused to compromise his beliefs. 

The conflict occurred because the UVA Student Activities Fund (SAF), funded by mandatory student fees, helped finance over one hundred student organizations and newspapers including those sponsored by Muslim and Jewish groups but discriminated against the Christian student publication by denying it access to funds.

As the student organizer of the paper, Ron Rosenberger decided to fight back.   With funding from ADF, Ron’s case eventually made to the United States Supreme Court.

In a landmark decision 1995, the Court found that the University’s policy amounted to discrimination and violated the First Amendment. This decision changed not only the way student groups are treated at  UVA, but set an important legal precedent for the entire nation that has now been cited in thousands of cases…all because one person decided to make a difference.