This is your daily news rundown for Wednesday, July 9. In this edition:
- USU Athletics Director Diana Sabau is leaving her position later this month
- Churches can now endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status
USU Athletics Director is leaving this month
Utah State University has confirmed that Athletics Director Diana Sabau is leaving her position later this month.
Sabau became the university’s first full-time woman athletic director in August 2023. During her time, she oversaw the athletics department joining the Pac-12 conference and fired football coach Blake Anderson for reportedly failing to report sexual assault allegations by a player.
According to a statement by the university, Sabau’s last day will be July 21, after which she will head to the University of Maryland for a deputy athletic position.
This will be the second time in three years that Utah State University has needed to look for a new athletics director.
IRS rules churches can now endorse political candidates
The IRS has ruled that churches can now endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status, a decision that could possibly have big impacts on more religious states like Utah.
The declaration came as part of a lawsuit filed by an Evangelical media coalition challenging the “Johnson Amendment,” which prohibits religions from endorsing or opposing political candidates, claiming it violated their First Amendment free speech rights.
In a court filing, the IRS said that churches speaking on politics within houses of worship and through the lens of religious faith didn’t qualify as participating or intervening in a political campaign, making them still able to keep their tax-exempt status.
In Utah, where about three-quarters of residents identify as religious and where the vast majority of state legislators are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a church with both cultural and political influence in the state, this decision could have a bigger impact.
