Richard A. Sokerka
This issue features The Beacon’s annual salute to graduates of our Catholic elementary and high schools.
If you read the valedictorians’ addresses, a common theme is the freedom that these young men and women have to praise God for all of their and their classmates’ accomplishments and how much being disciples of Jesus has meant in their lives because of their Catholic education.
Now fast forward to the public sector where graduation ceremonies at public high schools constantly grapple with whether a graduate can thank God in his or her speech because officials opine that it crosses the line between the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and of separation of church and state.
After sending a draft of her graduation speech to her principal, Elizabeth Turner, valedictorian of her class at Hillsdale High School in Michigan, was shocked when the principal told her that she had to delete any mention of her faith in Jesus in her speech.
In her draft, Turner wrote, “For me, my future hope is found in my relationship with Christ. By trusting in him and choosing to live a life dedicated to bringing his kingdom glory, I can be confident that I am living a life with purpose and meaning. My identity is found by what God says and who I want to become is laid out in Scripture.”
However, her principal told her, “We need to be mindful about the inclusion of religious aspects. These are your strong beliefs, but they are not appropriate for a speech in a school public setting.”
Turner was distraught that she could not express her faith in her speech publicly so First Liberty Institute, a law firm that deals exclusively in religious freedom issues, wrote a letter to the high school stating, “That the principal was violating federal law by limiting Turner’s religious expression.”
According to First Liberty Institute, “Too often, we have seen well-meaning school officials who think they are complying with the Establishment Clause mistakenly go too far and censor the private speech of students, violating students’ rights under the free speech and free exercise clauses. Student graduation speeches constitute private speech, not government speech, and private speech is not subject to the Establishment Clause. Ms. Turner’s statements do not transform into government speech simply because they are delivered in a public setting or to a public audience.” The lawyers cited two cases relevant to Turner’s situation, and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, which says in part: “Where schools permit student expression on the basis of genuinely content-neutral criteria, and students retain primary control over the content of their expression, the speech of students who choose to express themselves through religious means such as prayer is not attributable to the state and may not be restricted because of its religious content. Student remarks are not attributable to the school simply because they are delivered in a public setting or to a public audience.”
After receiving the letter, officials at Hillsdale High School decided to allow Turner to mention her religious beliefs at her graduation ceremony.
And on June 6, Turner gave her speech as she had originally written it, saying she “was grateful to share her faith with her classmates.”
Our Catholic school graduates cherish the fact that they have matriculated in an environment where the name of God can be praised and prayer in the classroom is a daily occurrence.
Richard A. Sokerka