DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 100 faculty members at Iowa State University have signed a petition opposing the football coach's plan to make a chaplain an official member of the team staff.
Coach Gene Chizik, hired last November, wants to hire a chaplain who would be paid by private donations. ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard supports the plan because he contends student-athletes are under a lot of pressure and need access to spiritual guidance.
Faculty members behind the petition said hiring a chaplain is improper at a public university given the separation between church and state. And they said the move would favor Christianity over other religions.
"Are you going to have counseling for Jewish students? Muslim students? There's no such thing as one religion or one version of Christianity," said Dr. Hector Avalos, a professor of religious studies at ISU.
ISU spokesman John McCarroll said President Gregory Geoffroy has received the petition.
"He really hasn't had a chance to talk with the athletic director with some of the questions raised in the petition," McCarroll said. "But he will be addressing the issues raised by that petition."
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