Purdue University seems to have changed its stripes of late when it comes to religious indoctrination, as the school that once defended the right of a private speaker to blaspheme Jesus is now banning an alumni donor from using the word “God” on a plaque to avoid offending someone.
Dr. Michael McCracken and his wife made a $12,500 pledge to the university’s school of mechanical engineering in 2012.The couple was promised in return the opportunity to name a small conference room in the recently renovated Herrick Laboratories and invited to create an inscription for a plaque to be installed in the room.
McCracken chose to name the room after his parents, William and Glenda McCracken. His father had graduated from the university with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.
He also chose the following inscription for the plaque:
The younger McCracken was stunned when he learned that the university had rejected the inscription because it amounted to an “impermissible government endorsement of religion.” The school instead chose just to place his parents’ names on the plaque without notifying the family first.
“My wife and I were simply trying to honor the legacy of my parents – the things they instilled in me – one being a love of education, the other being a passion for solving problems and (the) third being a desire to understand the physics that God put into motion,” McCracken told Fox News, adding that he and his wife even offered an alternative inscription that would make it clear the message was coming from the family and not the university.
Attorneys for the university told television station WLFI last week that the phrase is considered to be government speech but will continue discussions with the McCracken’s attorneys over the matter.
“We have a great deal of understanding and sympathy for the disappointment of the McCracken family,” legal counsel Steve Schultz wrote in a statement. “If we had confidence that the courts would find this private speech as the donor’s counsel argues, then we would agree immediately–and strongly.”
“But given the facts here, our status as a public institution, and the hopelessly muddled state of jurisprudence in this particular area, we could fully expect lengthy and expensive litigation that would wipe out the value of this donation many times over, and we just don’t think that’s advisable for either the donor or the university,” he continued. “Still, we remain open to continued discussions, as we’d much prefer to be in the mode of expressing gratitude, not disagreement, to our donors.”
“Purdue is not a God-free zone,” Jeremiah Dys, a Liberty Institute attorney representing the McCrackens, told Fox News. “Purdue’s ban on any reference to God by a private speaker violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.”
Dys added that the institute, which focuses on defending and restoring religious liberty across the United States, has petitioned the Indiana school to install the original message but has come up empty so far.
“They said it might offend someone and might possibly cause a violation of the Establishment Clause,” he said.
Incidentally, in 2001 the school defended the rights of a private speaker to blaspheme Jesus on school grounds, according to attorney Robert Kelner. Kelner, who is also representing the McCrackens in the matter, reminded school officials in a letter last week how the school successfully defended a court case involving a student production of “Corpus Christi” that referenced Jesus Christ as a homosexual who had sexual relations with His disciples.
“It is difficult to imagine that the First Amendment permits a private speaker to blaspheme Jesus at length in University spaces, yet simultaneously prohibits the McCrackens from mentioning ‘God’s physical laws,’” the letter said.
“By permitting secular expression and expression that portrays deity in a negative context while simultaneously refusing to permit private religious speech, the university has engaged in just the type of ‘egregious…content discrimination’ that constitutes impermissible viewpoint discrimination,” it continued.
UPDATE: Purdue University agreed to allow the following language on the McCracken’s plaque.
The McCrackens released the following statement in response:
“I believe that there are certain situations in life where one must decide if they are going to stand for their principles — regardless of whether or not it is the easiest or most convenient option. That is why my wife and I felt it so important to resolve this issue instead of ignoring it. Our Founding Fathers understood the importance of freedom of speech and religious freedoms, yet recognized their dependence on God. In a society that now seems to fear even mentioning God, I hope that we can remember what this great nation was founded upon and for which tens of thousands have died.
“My wife and I have been and plan to continue to be active donors to our alma mater, Purdue University. The opportunities that we currently have are in a large part due to the university, its faculty, our classmates, and our parents — who challenged us to reach beyond our initial potential. Therefore, we are happy to give back and encourage others to do the same.
“We are also especially grateful to the Liberty Institute and Covington & Burling LLP for providing their time and resources to help us resolve this issue. Without people serving as they have, most would not have the resources to have their voices heard.”
