BOISE - A Christian civil rights group is taking aim at the University of Idaho's non-discrimination policy, claiming it wrongly prohibits faith-based student organizations from selecting members based on religious beliefs.

Idaho's oldest public university is among more than 160 schools nationwide with policies that violate student religious freedoms, the Alliance Defense Fund said Thursday.

The Arizona-based group recently sent letters to universities and colleges in 23 states taking issue with policies that, according their attorneys, place unconstitutional restrictions on student speech and prevent religious student groups from receiving activity fees that go to non-religious student groups.

Another complaint from the conservative group is that religious student organizations are being forced to accept members that don't adhere to their beliefs.

The group contends that's what is at issue in Moscow, where a policy at the University of Idaho bars discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability or status as a Vietnam-era veteran.

The policy applies to all university programs, but attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund argue the First Amendment's free speech clause gives faith-based student groups the right to select members with similar religious beliefs.

The group wrote the university's Dean of Students Bruce Pitman late last month seeking a policy revision. Hacker requested a response by May 25 from the Idaho university regarding revisions to the policy, offering the assistance of Alliance Defense Fund attorneys.

A spokesman for the organization could not confirm Thursday whether the university had responded. Pitman didn't return a call from The Associated Press, and a university spokeswoman said she was unaware of the letter dated April 27.

The university lists a dozen faith-based student organizations on its website.

The Alliance Defense Fund contends the university "can resolve this problem by simply adopting an exemption from its non-discrimination policy for religious student groups that select their members and leaders on the basis of their religious beliefs," attorney David Hacker said in his letter. "Failing to take this action would unnecessarily make the university vulnerable to a federal lawsuit."

The failure to allow faith-based student organizations an exemption is "all the more egregious when a university grants access to its speech forum to other student groups that restrict membership in various ways," Hacker said. He gave the example of a student Democrat club that could exclude Republicans.

"The non-discrimination policies at most universities, including University of Idaho, prohibit discrimination based on a very short list of characteristics, thereby permitting restrictive membership policies on any basis not listed," he said. "Thus, groups can restrict members on the basis of their political, social and ideological views."