The lawsuit alleges that this violates the First Amendment.
INDIANAPOLIS — The ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit against Indiana State University (ISU) Monday, Sept. 15 for terminating its work-study and other funding for students who work at the Pride Center of Terre Haute.
The Pride Center filed a complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief against ISU's vice president for community engagement and ISU's executive director for career services.
The Pride Center of Terre Haute is a nonprofit that offers services and resources specifically to the LGBTQ+ community, which include health education and referrals, HIV testing, education seminars and community activities.
The Pride Center is almost entirely run by volunteers, but the center does have student workers from ISU.
According to the lawsuit, these workers are paid in part by the Pride Center and in part by federal work-study funds and grants from the Sycamore Community Work Program.
The lawsuit says the federal work-study funds and grants from the Sycamore Community Work Program are each administered and managed by the vice president for university engagement at ISU.
ISU terminated funding for the Pride Center in August 2024, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit points to the termination being the result of a best practices statement issued by the United States Department of Justice, which advised in order to avoid discrimination — termination is mandated.
However, the lawsuit says the services and job openings are open to everyone, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. The lawsuit also says the students must be "supportive, welcoming, understanding and respectful of LGBTQ+ individuals."
The lawsuit alleges that terminating its work-study and other funding for students who work at the Pride Center of Terre Haute violates the First Amendment, and that "declaratory and injunctive relief should be entered requiring the funding of the student workers to continue."
According to the lawsuit, the Pride Center has a "very small budget" and relies on volunteers and student workers from ISU to run it.
"The students are invaluable and are necessary for the Pride Center to function," the lawsuit states.
On Aug. 8, 2025, the lawsuit says the President of the Board of Directors of the Pride Center received an e-mail from the executive director of career services at ISU.
The lawsuit says the email said: "Guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Justice for recipients of federal funding identifies 'Best Practices' to avoid discriminatory practices. This Guidance advises public universities that fund student employment positions that support programs or activities that allocate benefits or roles based on protected characteristics, including sexual orientation or gender identity, is unlawful. Consistent with this Guidance from the DOJ, Indiana State may not require applicants to hold a particular identity-based viewpoint. Based on this, we will not be funding Federal Work Study or Sycamore Community Works positions this fiscal year 25-26. 40."
The lawsuit says the Pride Center "most certainly does not 'allocate benefits or roles based on protected characteristics' and does not 'require applicants to hold a particular identity-based viewpoint.'"
According to the lawsuit, there were four ISU students working part-time at the Pride Center through the federal work-study program and the Sycamore Community Work Program the day the Pride Center got that email. However, the lawsuit says funds and grants from ISU for the student employees stopped on Aug. 15, 2025.
The lawsuit says the Pride Center then sent an email to the executive director of career services to address this whole situation.
The lawsuit says they received this email in response: "The decision was made in consultation with our Legal Counsel based on their interpretation of the Department of Justice memo. We will not be funding Federal Work Study or Sycamore Community Works positions this fiscal year 2025-26."
According to the lawsuit, the Pride Center has assumed the portion of the students’ salaries that were being paid by ISU through the Sycamore Community Work Program and federal work-study funds to stay open. The center has also been able to secure a grant to make these payments for six months.
Ultimately, the lawsuit says this is "not sustainable."
"Although the Pride Center is open to, and serves, all and does not discriminate in its employment of ISU students, it is an organization that proudly supports, serves, and advocates for the LGBTQ+ community and the actions of defendants in terminating the funding have been taken because of the Pride Center’s role as a supporter and advocate of the LGBTQ+ community," the lawsuit says.
"The Pride Center does not 'allocate benefits or roles based on protected characteristics, including sexual orientation or gender identity,' and the defendants’ cancellation of funding represents punishment and retaliation against the Pride Center because of its constitutionally protected speech and association and because of the viewpoint that the Pride Center expresses," the lawsuit also says.
Ken Falk, legal director, ACLU of Indiana, issued the following statement:
“Given the fact that the Pride Center does not discriminate, there is no justification for ISU’s actions. The decision to defund this program is clearly based on the Pride Center’s support and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, all of which is supported by the First Amendment.”
Ian Braly, board secretary, The Pride Center of Terre Haute, issued the following statement:
“The Pride Center is dedicated to making the Wabash Valley a more inclusive place for everyone. As part of that, we offer services and support for people from all walks of life. These services are vital to the Terre Haute area – as are the student workers who help us provide them. Those who rely on us need our support now more than ever, and we just want to continue our mission to serve the community."
13News reached out to media relations for Indiana State University, but had note received a response as of this article's publication.