PETITION
SUBMITTED BY FACULTY OF
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
CONCERNING CHAPLAINS IN ITS
ATHLETIC PROGRAMS

JUNE 1, 2007

We, the undersigned faculty members at Iowa State University, strongly oppose any effort to introduce chaplains or any other form of religious counseling, whether publicly or privately funded, into any part of our athletic programs. Such an effort by our football coach Gene Chizik has been reported in the local press.

We believe that such religious positions violate the establishment clause of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as Iowa State is a publicly funded land grant institution. Such religious positions also have many other negative consequences for non-Christian students, and even for Christian students who may not believe in the particular religious form of Christianity that such a chaplain might endorse.

In the widely used "Lemon" test (Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971), which is used by our own legal counsel at Iowa State, there are three indicators of whether a governmental policy conforms to the establishment clause. The first is that any government policy "must have a legitimate secular purpose."

Chaplains, by definition, serve a religious purpose, and so pose a potential violation. Given public statements that the proposed chaplaincy is there to encourage a Christian viewpoint, we feel that it also violates the idea that government cannot prefer one religion over another.

We should also alert you to the complaints of significant abuses that such chaplains have generated in other institutions, including the Air Force Academy and the University of Iowa hospitals (see documentation below).

Thus, we urge you to provide a clear statement that Iowa State University cannot provide chaplains or any other form of religious counseling, whether publicly funded or privately funded, in our athletic programs. Students are best served by their own clergy, and students should be free not to espouse any religious practice or belief to participate in athletics at Iowa State University.

 

A petition has been started by four Iowa State professors opposing the introduction of chaplains to athletic programs by Gene Chizik, head football coach.

The petition was started by Hector Avalos, associate professor religious studies; Warren Blumenfeld, assistant professor in curriculum and instruction; William David, university professor in music; and Ellen Fairchild, lecturer in curriculum and instruction.

The petition states "We, the undersigned faculty members at Iowa State University, strongly oppose any effort to introduce chaplains or any other form of religious counseling, whether publicly or privately funded, into any part of our athletic programs. Such an effort by our football coach Gene Chizik has been reported in the local press."

The petition goes on to say that such a position would violate the establishment clause in the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution.

In an e-mail response to the four professors, Jamie Pollard, Iowa State athletic director, wrote that "no one, including Coach Gene Chizik, intends, has or will force any student-athlete to take part in any spiritual activity." In the e-mail, Pollard likens the chaplain position to other services provided to student-athletes.

"Much like we have offered our student-athletes access to drug and alcohol counselors, sports psychologists, nutritionists, hypnotists, physical therapists, learning specialists, chiropractors, physicians, etc., we are now going to also provide access to a spiritual advisor," he wrote.

Pollard wrote in the e-mail that the chaplain will be funded by private, not public money.

"We recognize that not everyone will support, nor fully understand or appreciate, this decision, since it is a topic that often is viewed as politically incorrect," he wrote.

David, in an e-mail response to Pollard's e-mail, wrote, "I find myself more concerned abut this matter than before I recieved it, primarily because of his view that this is only an issue of political corrrectness, as opposed ot an issue of law."

Check for more updates at www.iowastatedaily.com as this story develops.