Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter Katherine Kirsten filed this report:
Separation of church and state is clearest at the college during the Christmas season. A memo from Cusick and President Phil Davis, dated Nov. 28, 2006, exhorted supervisors to banish any public display of holiday cheer: “As we head into the holiday season … “all public offices and areas should refrain from displays that may represent to our students, employees or the public that the college is promoting any particular religion.” Departments considering sending out holiday cards, the memo added, should avoid cards “that appear to promote any particular religious holiday.”
Last year, college authorities caught one rule-breaker red-handed. A coffee cart that sells drinks and snacks played holiday music “tied to Christmas,” and “complaints and concerns” were raised, according to a faculty e-mail. College authorities quickly quashed the practice.
Yet Minneapolis’ Community and Technical College is not accommodating Christians:
Some local Muslim leaders have advised the college staff that washing is not a required practice for students under the circumstances, according to [college President Phil] Davis. Nevertheless, he says, he wants to facilitate it for interested students. “It’s like when someone comes to your home, you want to be hospitable,” Davis told me. “We have new members in our community coming here; we want to be hospitable.”
So the college is making plans to use taxpayer funds to install facilities for ritual foot-washing. Staff members are researching options, and a school official will visit a community college in Illinois to view such facilities while attending a conference nearby. College facilities staff members are expected to present a proposal this spring.
In Davis’ view, the foot-washing plan does not constitute promotion or support of religion. “The foot-washing facilities are not about religion, they are about customer service and public safety,” he says. He sees no significant difference between using public funds to construct prayer-related facilities for Muslim students and the cafeteria’s provision of a fish option for Christian students during Lent.
College officials claim that the restrictions on Christmas displays apply to employees who are state agents, and so are subject to more restrictions, while students are free to express their religious beliefs. But where the Muslim prayer facilities are concerned, college authorities themselves are consulting with religious leaders, researching other schools, and using taxpayer money to make improvements to facilitate one group’s prayer.
I am sure the Minnesota chapter of the ACLU will file suit soon, right after they finish writing position papers about why protests at soldier’s funerals should not be outlawed in Minnesota.
Hat tip: Power Line