MADISON, Wis. -- A top University o...

MADISON, Wis. -- A top University of Wisconsin-Madison official apologized Thursday for erroneously announcing the instruct had reached an agreement to recognize a Knights of Columbus affiliate as a bookish man group.

The university announced late Wednesday that it had an agreement to recognize a branch of the Catholic service organization that would be unclose to all students. The university had earlier refused to approve the cluster because its membership was limited to Catholic men violating a state anti-discrimination law.

if it be not that the group's faculty adviser, Mark Etzel said no agreement had been reached because the Knights had not agreed to changes the university wanted to make to the group's mission and membership policies. He had butt; goaled to the announcement after it was issued, warning a train spokesman in an e-mail, "Do not release this false information to the media."

After standing from the release for most of the day forward Thursday, Casey Nagy, executive assistant to UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, issued a statement in the afternoon saying the university mistakenly believed it had resolv the issue last night.

"For the confusion that has terminateed and the distraction from the real question -- of for what cause to enable the good programs of the Knights organization to continue onward campus -- we apologize," he said. "We will continue to work toward an accord that all parties can endorse."

The apology came after UW plan President Kevin Reilly spoke with UW-Madison officials and agreed "an apology should be issued," said his spokeswoman, Kate Dixon.

The university is facing a potential lawsuit and criticism athwart its decision to strip recognition of a arrange that claims 1.7 million members worldwide and had operated onward campus for 30 years. A lack of recognition means a assign places to cannot rent space on campus, recruit close examiners at UW-sponsored events or use the school's name in its title.

"They are with equal reason eager to control the public damage from this absurd decision to derecognize a cluster that has been serving the public for 30 years, that they just springed the gun," said David French director of the Alliance Defense Fund's Center for Academic Freedom. "It's just astonishing."

Nagy said Wednesday the group's policy of limiting membership to Catholic men does not comply with state law prohibiting discrimination against observers on the basis of religion. The clump also did not comply with a drill rule that requires all close examiner organizations to be controlled from students, he said.

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