Public Schools Should Not Coerce Religion By Holding Commencements In Places Of Worship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dotty Griffith, ACLU of Texas, (512) 478-7300 X 106 or (512) 923-1909; [email protected]
AUSTIN – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas has filed an open records request with the Houston-area Lone Star College System (LSCS) about LSCS-Tomball and LSCS-Montgomery public community colleges’ selection of a local church as the 2011 graduation venue. Graduation ceremonies for the Montgomery and Tomball campuses will be at The Woodlands Church Fellowship Campus in The Woodlands on Friday and Saturday May 13-14, respectively.
An LSCS professor who objects to the graduation’s religious venue raised concerns with the ACLU of Texas after several faculty members voiced their opposition to the college administration to no avail. LSCS faculty members are required to attend graduation and can only be excused by the college administration. Students who do not wish to graduate in a church have no recourse but to attend one of the other campus ceremonies or to avoid graduation altogether.
“I grew up going to church. To me churches are sacred places for worship. They are not public forums appropriate for government activities like a public school graduation,” said the LSCS professor, who requested to remain anonymous. “For a college that purports to value diversity, choosing a religious location for graduation when there are abundant alterative venues is inexplicable.”
“Given the concerns the college faculty has raised, and the fact that other venue choices are clearly available to LSCS, it is hard to understand why LSCS is insisting on holding its commencement exercises in a church,” said Lisa Graybill, Legal Director for the ACLU of Texas. “LSCS’ actions could amount to imposing a religious viewpoint on faculty and students, which would be a violation of religious freedom protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.”
The ACLU of Texas’ request, which was sent to the LSCS Office of Public Records and to Chancellor Richard Carpenter, seeks information on how the venue for graduation was selected, on what basis, and what steps the college will undertake to minimize the likelihood that the rights of students and employees will be violated.
Previously, the graduation ceremony for the Tomball campus was held at the Berry Center in Houston, Texas, and later at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott.
