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Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Yeshiva University in New York halted all student clubs on Friday after the Supreme Court allowed a ruling to stand requiring the school to recognize a student LGBTQ group. In an unsigned email obtained by CNN and The New York Times, Yeshiva University said it would "hold off on all undergraduate club activities" while it "takes steps to follow the roadmap provided by the U.S. Supreme Court to protect religious freedom."
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Yeshiva University did not indicate in the email how long the suspension would last.
"Every faith-based university in the country has the right to work with its students, including its LGBTQ students, to establish the clubs, places and spaces that fit within its faith tradition," Rabbi Ari Berman, the university's president, said in a statement Thursday.
"Yeshiva University simply seeks that same right of self-determination. The Supreme Court has laid out the roadmap for us to find expedited relief and we will follow their instructions.
"At the same time, as our commitment to and love for our LGBTQ students are unshakeable, we continue to extend our hand in invitation to work together to create a more inclusive campus life consistent with our Torah values."
Administration at the university, where the majority of students are Jewish, has long clashed with students seeking formal recognition for a student club called Y.U. Pride Alliance.
Students in the Pride Alliance filed a lawsuit against the university in the New York State Supreme Court, claiming that the school discriminated against them for their sexual orientation.
The State Supreme Court ruled in June that the university would have to recognize the Pride Alliance but the university appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that the decision attacked the institution's religious freedom.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to decline to block the lower court's ruling and instructed the school to recognize the group while the appeal process carried out.
