Senator Lankford on Religious Freedom in Higher Education and 'See You at the Pole'

Protecting Religious Student Organizations

• 🏛️ Senator James Lankford has introduced a bill to ensure religious student organizations are treated the same as all other student groups on public college campuses.
• ⚖️ The bill prohibits public institutions of higher education from denying rights, benefits, or privileges to religious organizations based on their beliefs, practices, speech, or leadership standards.
• 🚫 It specifically addresses instances where universities have interfered with religious groups' ability to select their own leaders, sometimes requiring non-members to hold leadership positions.
• 🇺🇸 Lankford emphasizes that this principle of equal treatment for religious organizations should be a basic American value, protected under the right of association.

The 'See You at the Pole' Movement

• 🗓️ The senator highlighted the upcoming 35th anniversary of the 'See You at the Pole' event, a student-led prayer movement that began in 1990.
• 🙏 Initially, around 46,000 students gathered to pray for their schools, teachers, and nation, a simple act that faced opposition, including arrests in some cases.
• 📈 The following year, the movement grew to over a million students, spreading across the nation and eventually globally.
• 🚩 The flagpole was chosen as a common, visible meeting point on school campuses for students to gather and pray publicly.

Encouraging Student Faith and Prayer

• 🗣️ Lankford encourages current students to participate in 'See You at the Pole' as a way to seek divine help for the nation during times of anger and frustration.
• 🌟 He praises students who demonstrate their faith through actions like praying before sports games, during lunch, or in Bible study groups, seeing them as vital role models.
• 🤝 The movement, born from student initiative, aims to foster a generation that lives out their faith and embodies principles of loving God and neighbor.
• 🇺🇸 The senator plans to observe students praying on September 24th and will join them in praying for the nation's need for help.