Recently, a Florida Atlantic University professor walked all over the Christian faith…literally. Dr. Deandre Poole decided it would be a good lesson plan to have his “intercultural communications” students write the word “Jesus” on a sheet of paper, put it on the ground and step all over it. After one student declined to participate, he claims the professor kicked him out of the class. The university has since apologized (Miami Herald).
Some have come to the professor’s defense arguing that the whole point of this “lesson” was to teach students the deep, often sacred meanings that humans place into symbols, in this case the word “Jesus.” They defend the professor’s right to enjoy academic freedom in his classroom.
But what about the students’ academic freedom not to participate in a flagrantly offensive lesson that could have been taught in a myriad other more respectful ways? The university claims the student was not kicked out of the class, while the student insists he was. Regardless who’s right, this was an unacceptable degradation, intentional or not, of the central figure in the world’s largest religion.
Unfortunately, this example of undermining the importance of religion in students’ lives is not uncommon in American universities. In many cases, students of faith, especially conservative ones, have been denied academic freedom.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), dedicates itself to protecting students’ rights to freedom of speech and conscience at universities. Some of the cases this organization has handled over the years are enough to make one question peoples’ sanity.
A particular policy FIRE has been combating at universities across the nation is called the “all comers policy.” This policy prevents any campus organization from being discriminative in any way toward prospective members. At first this sounds like the right thing to do. We all should hate discrimination and work to fight it. However, this policy has often been invoked irresponsibly by universities.
One example occurred at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where an administrator attempted to disband a Christian organization on campus because the club required its leaders to follow Christian doctrine. Another example occurred at Louisiana State University in which the university attacked the Muslim Student Association for refusing to accept non-Muslim ideas into the organization.
Now, being non-discriminatory is one thing, but when Christians get in trouble for not letting non-Christians run their club or Muslims get in trouble for not letting non-Muslims run their club, we have entered the land of lunacy. Would we ever see a Catholic priest leading worship in a Mosque? Of course not! Religious groups should at least have the freedom to worship God in their own way and follow their faith’s teachings.
But universities have attempted to deprive students of this freedom in other ways as well. In 2005, a student at Missouri State University, was denied a degree in social work for refusing to sign a petition supporting gay adoptions, a requirement for one of her courses.
Basically, the school’s social work department was attempting to force her to fight for a cause that she maintained was against her religious beliefs. After continued intimidation by the department, the student filed a lawsuit, and the university ran an official investigation. The social work department was found to be at fault and several professors were rightfully removed.
If I had room, I could write pages on these cases because there is no shortage. Go to FIRE’s official website to see for yourself. My point, though, is to demonstrate that violations of students’ academic freedom, especially when it comes to religion, do frequently occur at various universities across the nation.
Such violations need to be combated or else college will cease being a place to foster free thought. Instead, it will become a close-minded autocracy where professors will proclaim to students what is right and wrong, becoming gods in their own right.
Tony Bara
Editor in Chief