Last Week, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the graduation of Brookfield East and Brookfield Central held at Elmbrook Church did not violate any laws. The panel reasoned that the ceremony did not contain any religious content, so the public school did not endorse religion of any kind.
The issue started back in 2000 when Brookfield Central's senior class officers suggested that their graduation be moved from the stuffy gymnasium to Elmbrook Church. The students' vote passed and was approved by superintendent Matt Gibson. All hell broke loose after that.
Parents immediately complained that having the ceremony in a church exposed their kids to ""hateful teachings about non-Christians."" This is a bit of an exaggeration on the parents' part and only distracted from graduation day celebrations.
Feeding off the parents' complaints, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a federal lawsuit in 2009 arguing the ceremony offended some of the students and parents. A federal judge in Milwaukee ruled later that same year that the ceremonies weren't religious. The students and parents filed an appeal, which resulted in the recent 7th Circuit Court's decision.
These courts made the correct decisions, because the church was only a graduation venue during the schools' ceremonies, not a house of worship.
There were no religious aspects in the graduation ceremony itself. The fact that the graduation was in a church could result in religious undertones, but it's not like a priest was giving a sermon. The choice of the location was to promote physical comfort, not Christian beliefs. The kids only wanted to move into a more bearable environment, which is why the church was a good option.
Another common concern was the presence of religious symbols inside the church. For example, there is a big crucifix hanging above the altar. However, it is fickle to get upset over that. Attendees don't have to look at the religious symbols and even if it was unavoidable, like the big crucifix, you don't have to believe in what they stand for. It is a bit of a stretch to say that having a ceremony around religious symbols one day a year is promoting those symbols.
It is easy to see that the courts were right to say the Brookfield schools did nothing to promote religion at their ceremonies.
Moreover, the parents who filed the lawsuit are getting upset over the fact that they can see something they don't believe in. People see things at this public university they don't believe in everyday, but they are not going to the courts filing lawsuits about it.
These lawsuits only distract people from the graduations, ruining a perfectly pleasant event. Students should be focused on what college they are going to in just a few short months or what they are going to do with their last high school summer. They shouldn't have to worry that someone is going to sue their school.
Parents getting upset about this is disheartening. Shouldn't this be a time they celebrate? Their child just graduated from high school and is starting a whole new chapter of their life and yet this is taking the back-burner to some parents' hysteria of being around a crucifix for a couple of hours.
With all the budget cuts, some schools today are lucky to even have a graduation ceremony, especially one in a comfortable environment. If being in a church is such a huge deal then students always have the choice to not attend. Students and parents should be proud of their accomplishments instead of hysterical about being in a church for a few short hours.
The courts were right in ruling that there is no reason to change the venue of the graduation. Even so, the more vocal pressure from the parents and various organizations against any religion entering the public square had the graduation location changed to a new field house. Score: 1-0 in favor of the loudest people.
Nick Fritz is a junior majoring in marketing. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
