Professor
Bans Students From Thanking God at Graduation Ceremony - School Apologizes to
Students
By Sami K.
Martin , Christian Post Reporter
May 7,
2014|9:16 am
A professor
at East Carolina University in North Carolina attempted to prevent students
from thanking God during a commencement ceremony on Friday. Assistant Professor
Eli Hvastkovs sent an email to students, asking them to prepare a "family
friendly" speech in advance but not to include gratitude to God.
"Hi
everyone," the email to students begins. "Just a reminder to everyone
(undergraduate majors) that if you are planning on being at the graduation
ceremony, you can provide me with a personal statement that thanks someone or
tells us your future plans. I've had some submissions that needed to be edited,
so here are some guidelines: You can't thank God. I'm sorry about this – and I
don't want to have to outline the reasons why," Hvastkovs wrote.
The email
made its way to Campus Reform, a website dedicated to advocating for students'
rights. The professor confirmed that he wrote the email and explained that too
many people took the opportunity to thank religious figures during last year's
ceremony, which he did not feel was right.
"It's
not a religious ceremony," he explained. "It's purely
educational."
However,
the school does not enforce this policy – it is strictly a departmental practice.
The school as a whole allows students to thank whomever they wish during their
commencement ceremony, following the guidelines of the First Amendment. Provost
Marilyn Sheerer decided to write an email to those same students, advising them
to disregard the professor's request.
"The
First Amendment allows them to thank God, to thank any force or any individual
that they so desire," Executive Director of Communication Mary Schulken
told Campus Reform.
"Please
disregard Dr. Hvastkov's previous email regarding your departmental graduation
statement. Religious references of any type will not be restricted,"
Sheerer told the students in an email, "and the university will only limit
these expressions as permitted by applicable First Amendment law. I regret
that, without approval from the appropriate University officials, any other
limitations were communicated to you. Thank you."