Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania has settled a lawsuit brought by three members of a Christian student group who said the university had prevented them from expressing their views on race, gender, and religion “from a Biblical viewpoint.” The institution agreed to change some wording in its campus code of conduct and to replace its existing diversity statement with a statement about the university’s commitment to educational diversity, The Sentinel, a newspaper in Carlisle, Pa., reported.

A lawyer for the students, who were members of a group called Christian Fellowship, contended that Shippensburg’s policies on free speech had created an “atmosphere of fear and hostility.” The lawsuit also alleged that the university had reinstated policies it had agreed to revise or drop as part of a 2004 legal settlement over its code of conduct. The earlier settlement, with a national free-speech advocacy group, came after a federal judge found that, although well-meaning, portions of Shippensburg’s policies probably were unconstitutional.

In a statement issued on Thursday, after the settlement was announced, William N. Ruud, the university’s president, said Shippensburg had complied with the terms of the 2004 agreement. However, he said, a student-produced handbook contained “incorrect material” in its issue for the 2007-8 academic year. Those problems have been corrected, he said.

The students were supported in their lawsuit by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative, Christian legal-advocacy group. —Karin Fischer