Liberty Counsel Launches Annual 'Friend or Foe Graduation Campaign'
Liberty Counsel will be a foe of schools that censor the religious viewpoint or content of students’ speeches at graduation.
The President and General Counsel of an Orlando, Florida-based litigation, education and policy organization has announced its third national “Friend or Foe Graduation Campaign.”
In a statement released Wednesday by Liberty Counsel, Mathew D. Staver described the campaign as follows: “The Friend or Foe Graduation Campaign means that Liberty Counsel will be a friend to those schools that take a neutral position regarding the messages presented by students at graduation. However, Liberty Counsel will be a foe of schools that censor the religious viewpoint or content of student speakers. We will provide guidance, education and free legal representation to those schools that protect the free speech rights of students, and we will file suit against those schools that violate their First Amendment rights.”
According to Liberty Counsel, the Constitution is not violated as long as the school stays neutral and neither demands prayer or religious speech nor forbids voluntary prayer or religious speech.
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The organization also noted in its statement that the Supreme Court has never forbidden all religious speech or prayer during graduation. In Lee v. Weisman, the Court acknowledged that “at graduation time and throughout the course of the educational process, there will be instances when religious values, religious practices, and religious persons will have some interaction with the public schools and their students.”
Liberty Counsel said that what the Court banned is school-sponsored prayer, where the school demands prayer and directs its content. However, when a student or other speaker is chosen to speak at graduation using neutral criteria such as academic achievement, class office or leadership, the speaker may give a message that has religious content, the organization stated.
"Schools may also use a neutral message policy, which lets students to give a message concerning any topic of their choice," Liberty Counsel continued. "In addition, graduation or baccalaureate services may be privately sponsored on or off campus. A privately sponsored ceremony may have a lot of religious content, and the speakers may be invited to pray or give a religious message. School officials may also partake in private ceremonies on their own time."
In his comment, Staver said “Students and invited speakers do not shed their constitutional rights when they step up to the graduation podium. School officials should neither command students to pray nor prohibit them from praying. When in doubt, remain neutral and allow the speaker to present a message of his or her own choice. Liberty Counsel will be the friend of schools that protect the rights of students and invited speakers, but we will be a foe of those schools that are a foe to the liberties protected by the First Amendment.”
Currently posted on the Liberty Counsel’s web site is a detailed legal memorandum taken from Staver’s recently released book, Eternal Vigilance: Knowing and Protecting Your Religious Freedom.
