Religious Expression in the College Classroom

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


So reads the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which adherents defend with great rigor. But are all of the clauses equally protected? In recent years, the law protecting religious freedom has been interpreted to mean that an individual's religious views have no place in our country's government-supported classrooms. The logic behind this interpretation stems from the view that permitting students to express, endorse, or otherwise acknowledge religious views in an educational setting will infringe on the rights of those who do not share the same beliefs, and thus interfere with the logical processes associated with meaningful learning.

In December 1999, the Proceedings before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights scheduled a series of hearings in New York, Washington D.C., and Seattle to examine the status of religion in school. After conducting interviews and hearing testimony, the Commission took a stand to support the right of students "to engage in voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from discrimination, [which] does not, however, include the right to have a captive audience listen to their religious expressions, or to compel others to participate" (Proceedings 3).

These findings were consistent with President Clinton's 1997 "Guidelines on Religious Exercise and Religious Expression in the Federal Workplace" as well as the 1998 "Statement of Principles on Religious Expression in Public Schools" prepared by Richard Riley, Secretary of Education. The "Principles" were expanded in 1999 and sent to state superintendents of instruction. In addition the document was sent to approximately 300 to 400 national religious leaders, and published in the Community
Update, the Department of Education's newsletter with a circulation of 250,000.