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A Christian-themed concert took place as planned Friday night at the University of Arizona despite student-body leaders' denying more than $4,000 in funding they'd promised organizers days earlier.

Funding was pulled in a broad bylaw change approved by ASUA — Associated Students of the University of Arizona — this week that will also affect any other club events with blatantly religious or political messages.

Student Senate members said they needed to make the change Wednesday in order to comply with state law, though an attorney from the UA's General Counsel said they may be misinterpreting the statutes they're citing.

Priority College Ministry, the UA club hosting Friday's concert, was left scrambling for donations from local churches and other organizations while other campus clubs are wondering if they'll be able to hold their events, too.

Concerns about objectivity also were raised because at the same meeting, ASUA approved funding for an ad to run in the student newspaper during "Coming Out Week." The ad will be run by a student-government-affiliated gay-rights organization.

"ASUA has been approving funding for our concert for the last seven years and it's never been a problem before," said Tim Salomon, president of Priority College Ministry. "But they said it's state law and that if they gave us the money that they would be breaking the law."

Since Priority is the first club to be denied funding under the new bylaw, Salomon said he is waiting to see how it is interpreted for other UA clubs.

"The university should be the place where we learn from each other's ideas and have a dialogue and innovation," said Ehab Tamimi, president of the UA Muslim Student Association. "The idea of determining who is too religious or too political seems like discrimination to me."

Tamimi said the bylaw change is hypocritical.

"If they're going to seek out groups that are political, they need to start at home and they might as well cut the funding and ties between the university and Greek life, because they have a set of standards and practices and they're closed groups," he said.

Noting that he personally has nothing against Greek life, Tamimi said there are obvious political connections between those in fraternities and sororities and those who are in leadership positions in ASUA and on campus.

"People are religious and political and cultural in nature," Tamimi said. "They're going to create a big divide between secular and nonsecular groups and if anything, we need to bring these groups closer together right now, not further apart."

Jessica Anderson, ASUA executive vice president, said she could not specify what state law was the motivation behind the bylaw change, but that she received the new bylaw around 10 a.m. Wednesday directly from the UA's Office of the General Counsel, which told her that the Senate needed to pass the new bylaw or else it would be in violation of state law.

Anderson said it was due to the bylaw change that ASUA couldn't legally fund Friday's Christian-themed concert.

ASUA might be confused, said Steve Adamczyk, a university attorney and member of the General Counsel. "I'm not aware of any state law that required them to change their bylaws," he said. "We don't tell them to do that."

Adamczyk did note it is illegal to use any government money to fund any events that can change the outcome of an election, but that ASUA has never funded those sorts of events.

ASUA could be in violation of the First Amendment and a few Supreme Court cases for denying funding to Priority College Ministry for its Overflow concert simply because of its religious theme, said Daniel Barr, a First Amendment lawyer and partner with the law firm Perkins, Coie, Brown and Bain. Barr also represents the Star in legal matters.

"If a club otherwise qualifies for funding, but they're being denied funding just on the basis of religion, that's viewpoint discrimination and is a violation of the First Amendment and violates the free speech clause," Barr said. "Here's the bottom line: ASUA doesn't get to override the Constitution of the United States with their bylaws."

Money for the concert, totalling $4,230, was approved by the ASUA Appropriations Board on Monday and was to cover the cost of renting and setting up lighting and audio equipment as well as renting the UA Student Union Memorial Center's Grand Ballroom.

The Overflow concert, which was free and open to the public, took place Friday night and featured a performance by the Lyle Thompson Band — a Christian band made up of UA alumni. It also included a speech by Neil McClendon, a Baptist minister from Sugar Land, Texas.

After the vote to deny Priority's funding, the ASUA Senate voted to approve funding for Pride Alliance's two-page ad in the UA student newspaper, the Arizona Daily Wildcat. The ad is set to run sometime during Coming Out Week, Oct. 8-12.

The advertisement will feature the names, majors and job titles of students, faculty and staff at the UA who are members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, said Rosie Reid-Correa, co-director of Pride Alliance.

Pride Alliance is an ASUA program and its operational budget is funded by the UA, Reid-Correa said.

"I want to make the statement in the university that there are individuals who are LGBT that wake up in the morning everyday, just like everybody else, and work for you," Reid-Correa said. "It's more than just an ad, it's domestic-partner benefits, it's a celebration of your identity, it's the University of Arizona saying you can be out and proud."

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