[EL] political activity on campus

[Lloyd Mayer]

See also the recent testimony by Miami Professor Frances Hill on this issue
at
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/20160302-OS-Testimony-Hill.pdf.
Professor Hill is an expert on these matters and provides a nice summary of
the relevant IRS guidance. As she details, the political activities of
students are generally not attributed to their college or university and so
do not threaten the tax-exempt status of their institution under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
She does not, however, address the voter registration and financial aid
issue, nor do I know whether that is a legitimate concern.

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer
Professor of Law
Notre Dame Law School
(574) 598-0740

On May 13, 2016, at 10:31 PM, Ellen Aprill <ellen.aprill at lls.edu> wrote:

As to permitting students to set up tables, etc., see item #11 on pages
numbered 377-378 of this IRS Continuing Professional Education text:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopici02.pdf

CPE texts are not precedential authority, but this particular chapter is
considered a particularly good and thorough description of the IRS's
position on the matters it discusses.

  Ellen Aprill


-------
Ellen P. Aprill
John E. Anderson Professor of Tax Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
213-736-1157

On Fri, May 13, 2016 at 6:40 PM, Morgan Kousser <kousser at caltech.edu> wrote:

>   A Caltech counsel states that as a 501c3, Caltech cannot legally allow
> its property to be used for a card table at which students hand out
> material about a particular political candidate.  She also states that
> students who register to vote in California may lose financial aid that
> they get from entities established in another state.
>
>   Given that we often see political rallies on college campuses, and that
> entities in other states that send checks to students in California
> presumably already know that the students are here, both of these
> propositions seem incorrect to me.  Can people on the list advise me if
> this is correct, either off-list or on, please?
>
>   Thanks,
>
> Morgan
>
> --
> Prof. of History and Social Science, Caltech
> surface mail:  228-77 Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125-7700
> phone 626-395-4080, fax 626-405-9841
> home page:  <http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~kousser/Kousser.html> <http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~kousser/Kousser.html>
>   . . . without the clarity that makes doubt productive, historians will never be able to fulfill their highest moral responsibility, to build a better world . . .
>                       -- from "The New Postmodern Southern Political History"
>   Perfection . . . in any institution is a dangerous myth; there is only the repeated correction of imperfections.  As long as there is discrimination, there will always be more work to do.
>                        -- from "The Strange, Ironic Career of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act"
>
>
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