College Student Denied Financial Aid for Choosing Religious Major
The state of Virginia told a Liberty University student she couldn’t receive financial aid. Why? Because she chose to pursue a “Music and Worship” degree.
That’s illegal and unconstitutional. And that’s why First Liberty joined the National Legal Foundation and others in filing a petition this week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Bethany’s case.
Bethany Hall applied for the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant Program, which offers students up to $5,000 per school year. However, the program specifically excludes “religious training or theological education.”
When Bethany’s major was just “Music Education,” she qualified. But when she changed her major to “Music & Worship,” the state said she was no longer eligible.
“Excluding students from a state scholarship or grant simply because their choice of major is religious is discriminatory,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for First Liberty.
Bethany is simply asking for the same freedom every other student enjoys: the right to choose her course of study.
“It is odious to our Constitution for a state to fund a degree in music but refuse to fund a degree in music & worship,” said Steven Fitschen of National Legal Foundation and lead counsel on the case.
“The Free Exercise clause is meant to encourage and even prefer religion. But Virginia’s decision to deny funding based upon religious use is the type of hostility toward religion rejected by the First Amendment,” he continued.
Winning this case would ensure that Bethany can study and follow a career path that’s aligned with her divinely inspired calling. Plus, the case presents the Supreme Court with an opportunity to reverse a 2004 decision that state-funded scholarship programs can exclude students pursuing degrees in religious studies.
If that ruling is overturned, it would be a win for religious liberty of students across America.
Religious Liberty Commission Finalizes Report
The President’s Religious Liberty Commission will finalize its 224-page draft report in a virtual meeting on Monday, August 17. It will be open to the public and is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET.
They will discuss the draft, review comments, finalize the report and send the recommendations to the President.
“This is the first Religious Liberty Commission in the history of our country. It is an incredible opportunity not only to educate Americans but also includes over 100 recommendations of action to the President that will help secure and protect our religious freedoms way into the future,” said Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel at First Liberty and member of the Commission.
In the past year, members heard testimony from teachers, students, parents, military chaplains, service members, healthcare professionals, private-sector employees, and religious leaders who shared firsthand accounts of discrimination because of their faith. They also shared suggestions for how to protect religious liberty going forward.
The Commission will continue for another year to press for implementation of the recommendations in the report.
“Over the past 250 years, religious liberty has been indispensable to all the movements that seek to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence,” the report states. “But as we have seen in recent decades, religious liberty must be protected, preserved, and cherished. That responsibility belongs to every generation. Our hope and prayer is that Americans will meet that responsibility with the same wisdom, courage, and devotion to freedom that have sustained our nation for 250 years.”
Back-to-School? Not For This Connecticut Teacher
It’s back-to-school season—but one teacher in Connecticut won’t be returning to the classroom.
Our client, Marisol Arroyo-Castro, will be stuck in a non-teaching, administrative position in a building downtown.
She’s taught in Connecticut for more than 30 years and is beloved by her students. Still, school district officials are keeping her far away from the classroom.
Marisol is in the midst of an ongoing federal lawsuit. The school district is threatening to fire her because she refused to remove a small crucifix from beside her desk. They suspended her, put her crucifix in a box, and escorted her out of the school. After we sued, she was reassigned to a different role.
Marisol has been kept out of her classroom for more than a year—and it breaks her heart that she can’t be where God called her to be. Watch below:
First Liberty is fighting for Marisol in federal appeals court, just one level below the U.S. Supreme Court. She needs your continued support through this difficult stretch of the legal battle.
Marisol’s career and livelihood are on the line. Your support can help get her back to the classroom and protect her right to express her faith.
Please give to First Liberty today.
Florida Remains a National Leader in Religious Liberty
Great news for those of you living in the Sunshine State!
Florida continues to be among the best at protecting religious liberty. This year, Florida ranked #3 in the Religious Liberty in the States index, trailing only Arkansas and Tennessee.
This top-tier ranking reflects important laws adopted in recent years, including protections for houses of worship, conscience protections, religious exemptions, and other statutory safeguards. In fact, Florida did not lose any religious liberty protections year-over-year. The state actually increased its overall score from 74.6% in 2025 to 76.9% in 2026.
Like most states, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Florida was #1 in 2025, and it can certainly take the top spot again. With renewed attention to emerging areas of concern, the Sunshine State can continue to advance religious freedom and strengthen protections for people of all faiths.
Want to see where your state ranks? Check out the state rankings here.
Leading The Conversation | First Liberty in the News
Pete Buttigieg, The Supreme Court, And The Fourth Amendment – Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence on SCOTUSblog
Federal Court Hears Arguments on Oklahoma’s Ban for Religious Charter Schools – Executive General Counsel Hiram Sasser on EWTN News
‘One of the Greatest Ironies in the Universe’: Will Don Lemon Overturn the Central Law Defending Abortion Clinics? – Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys on Daily Signal
Providence And the Founding of The Nation – Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy Executive Director Jordan J. Ballor on WORLD Opinions
Podcast | Legal Docket: Freedom Depends on Your Zip Code – Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy Senior Fellow Hunter Baker on The World and Everything in It
Does the First Amendment Protect Freedom From Religion?
by Howard Goldthwaite, Senior Director of Creative Strategy
Here at First Liberty, we often defend people of faith when their free exercise of religion is attacked. In many of our cases, the hostility comes from opponents who object to seeing a person’s religious faith expressed publicly. Frequently, they erroneously contend that the First Amendment protects their “freedom from religion.”
Of course, the First Amendment also protects the freedom of speech. So, following their same logic, that would mean it also protects freedom from speech—so you never have to hear an opinion different from your own. The First Amendment protects freedom of the press—so does that mean we have freedom from the press, so we never have to see a news story we don’t like?
The same First Amendment that protects a person’s freedom to believe in God and express their faith publicly also protects an atheist’s right to not believe in God and express their beliefs publicly. That means when an atheist opposes a religious person’s free expression of faith, the atheist is attacking the right that protects their own words at that very moment. People of faith constantly get criticized when doing observable religious activities outside the walls of a church like praying, baptizing, setting up memorials and monuments, etc.
Nonreligious critics contend that by doing these things in public, people of faith are forcing their beliefs on others. The critics often say it’s a terrible thing to impose your beliefs on others—but then these same critics do their best to impose that belief on others! They base it on their supposed “freedom from religion,” which they view as the right to live entirely free from exposure to religious practices and influence in the public square.
When governments decide there’s no power higher than themselves, one authoritarian regime might decide to ban religious practices, while another decides to ban atheism.
Today, there are over a dozen nations worldwide where being an atheist can bring severe punishment, including imprisonment and execution.
America’s Founding Fathers never tried to take away an atheist’s right to believe God doesn’t exist; and neither does First Liberty. Our legal victories that protect the freedom for people who believe in God also protects the same freedom for people who don’t.
America was founded on the cornerstone of religious liberty. Here’s an example: The same Constitutionally protected right that allowed Bremerton High School Coach Joe Kennedy to pray on the field after games also protected someone else’s right to not pray. No one was forced to pray who didn’t want to, and nobody was stopped from praying who wanted to pray.
Except, of course, for Joe Kennedy. He was fired for praying in public; and therefore, supposedly imposing his beliefs on others. He then had to endure seven years of legal battles before having his constitutional rights affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
America’s Constitution protects freedom OF religion not freedom FROM religion. Nowhere does the Constitution guarantee the right to be shielded from ever seeing someone exercise their religious beliefs in public. But it does protect every American’s freedom, including teachers and government workers, to exercise their religious beliefs—freely and publicly—even if other people might happen to see it.
That’s because religious liberty is the freedom that defines America.
Editors’ Picks | Stories Around the Nation
Two Visions of Religious Liberty: How Trump and Biden Defined a Foundational Right – Washington Examiner
Life and Liberty Under Attack – WORLD Opinions
EXCLUSIVE: Lankford Introduces Bill to Protect Religious Freedom for Military Chaplains – Washington Stand
A New Bipartisan Bill in Congress Would Create Protest-free Buffer Zones Around Houses of Worship – Religion News Service
Trump Judicial Picks Squeezed by Looming Midterm, Senate Recess – Bloomberg Law
