Two weeks after he appeared to rule out the use of student-activity fees to subsidize a campus Roman Catholic group, the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s chancellor, John D. Wiley, seems to have backed down. According to an article published today by the Associated Press, Mr. Wiley said he would endorse the allocation of $145,000 to the group, but would not release the money until the university’s Board of Regents signed off on the plan.

Mr. Wiley initially said the Catholic group’s use of student-activity fees for expressly religious purposes would violate the First Amendment’s ban on government actions to establish a religious faith (The Chronicle, April 21). The issue has resonance on the Madison campus because it was the focus of a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling six years ago on how student-activity fees may be constitutionally used (The Chronicle, March 31, 2000).

The Catholic group, which had earlier threatened to sue, applauded the chancellor’s decision and said the money would be used for “overtly religious purposes.” Now the threats of a lawsuit are coming from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which said Mr. Wiley had caved in to outside pressure.