Public prayer

At the conclusion of the fall semester a decision on whether public prayer on campus was appropriate had not been decided, according to NU president Richard Schneider.

Public prayer occurrs twice a year at Norwich University functions, at convocation and commencement, and while it has been done in an inclusive manner, some students and faculty questioned whether it should happen at all. 

"We are a private campus so we are not bound by Supreme Court rulings, which affect every other public school in the country. For that reason we are free to do what we want on campus, but people did have some concerns about mandatory academic functions like graduation, and the way the prayers have been conducted and whether or not that was an appropriate time for prayer," said Reina Pennington, associate professor of European and military history, and member of the Faculty Senate.

Last September, Schneider sent out a memo to the Faculty Senate, the Staff Council and the Student Government Association seeking advice on the issue of public prayer.

So far the president has heard input back from only the Faculty Senate and awaits the opinions of the Staff Council and the Student Government.

The Faculty Senate issued a five-point statement which recommends having no public prayer at campus events.

In contrast, a student poll showed support for continuing public prayer.

Norwich University's chaplain, Reverend William S. Wick, has not been included in any of the discussions or meetings surrounding the issue.

"I have not been asked to be part of the discussion. I have sent one letter privately to a major official just so they know what my argumentation would be, but it was just sent to that one person because I'm not a politician. I know it's awfully hard to separate the prayer issue from me because I'm the one that has done it most often," Wick said.

The Staff Council has not yet made a formal recommendation to President Schneider, according to Jason Aldrich, manager of user services and head of the Staff Council.

The Student Government conducted a poll earlier this school year with the student body, according to Sean Frederick, 21, who serves as senior student body president and is originally from Derry, N.H.

A letter was sent to Dr. Gerard LaVarnway, chairman of the Faculty Senate, on behalf of the Student Government. The letter stated that the Student Government decided not take a stance on the issue.

"Prayer is a controversial issue that we feel will never come to a consensus. I believe that it is in the best interest of my government as well as the student body to pass on the issue," Frederick said.

Even though the student government decided not to take an official side on the issue, the SGA was released the information gained by the polls.

The polls were conducted over the course of two days, at lunch and dinner in the Wise Campus Center. The SGA conducted the polls in late November of 2009, and asked students, "Do you support or oppose prayer at Norwich University functions?"

"The results of this poll were released to the president and to the Norwich public. In support of prayer at public university functions, there were 498 votes; 49 students were opposed, and 12 didn't care," Frederick said.

The polling was done in a professional manner and was counted by Greg McGrath and his neutral staff.

Frederick realizes that the way in which the polls were conducted may be up for argument.

"I realize there may be differing opinions in other university bodies in terms of the way the question was phrased and how the polling was conducted, but I would like to assure them that this was done in the most professional, fair and neutral environment, and I further believe that these results are a true representation of our student body," Frederick said.

President Schneider will come to a decision regarding the issue once responses on the topic have been gathered.

"Each of them (Student Government, Faculty Senate, Staff Council) have polled their constituents and will report those results to him. That will be part of the information he uses to make his decision - and the ultimate decision is his," said Marguerite M. Moore of NU Human Resources.

The Faculty Senate has submitted a draft to the president as to what it feels is an appropriate way to approach the issue of prayer. The draft consists of five major points:

1. At mandatory academic events, corporate religious expression (excluding moments of silence) should not be a formal part of the event. We define mandatory academic events to include any academic event where faculty, staff, or students are required to attend. Mandatory academic events also include academic events, which, while not mandatory, are of the highest importance to the university's core academic mission. Specifically, we consider Commencement and Convocation to be mandatory academic events.

2. The Senate takes the position that corporate expressions of religious faith are inappropriate at events where attendance is required for students, staff, or faculty.

3. At non-academic events which are not mandatory, corporate religious expressions, if offered, should be given in language and spirit that is either specific to the audience in attendance (as in the case of denominational services in the chapel) or inclusive of the diverse array of faiths expressed by the university community if the audience is ecumenical.

4.  The Senate suggests that invocations or expositions on the Norwich University Mission Statement or the university's guiding values would be an appropriate invocation or benediction at university events.

5. The university should consider establishing, at the beginning of the year, a religious service near convocation to mirror the relationships between Commencement and Baccalaureate.

The Faculty Senate submitted these positions in an effort to rid the school of any discrimination surrounding prayer, religion, faith or any other spiritual beliefs.

"We (The Faculty Senate) initially wanted to express these concerns to the president because this is a matter of discrimination, and it's a talk down decision," Pennington said.

Pennington offered some insight as to what this discrimination involved.

"It's just like questions of whether you're going to integrate an institution racially or if you're going to let women into an institution. Those kinds of decisions are usually not made by a majority vote because the majority is not going to vote for change. It's a matter of conscience and a matter that we thought the president should consider," Pennington said.

 The Faculty Senate also stated in its draft that it recognizes the religious diversity that exists on campus, and that no religious tradition, faith, or system of belief should be privileged on campus.

Pennington also brought up another example of the university's toleration for prayer.

"Would we really think public prayer was OK if we allowed all the Muslim students five times a day to get down on their prayer rugs and we all stood silently while they did this? I mean that would truly be toleration - but would we think that's appropriate? We only think it's appropriate because it's a form that the dominant people share, or what we think is the majority," Pennington said.

Overall the Faculty Senate doesn't want anyone to be excluded or feel left out in the school or work environment.

"We don't want anyone to feel left out because they don't share the dominant faith or because they have no faith and feel excluded. It's pretty difficult not to feel excluded when someone is saying join us or stand there and be silent," Pennington said.

Reverend Wick feels he holds to tradition and is appropriate with his words when he is asked to speak at academic events such as convocation and commencement.

"My purpose when I'm asked to pray at convocation or commencement is simply to ask for blessing and guidance for those who are leaving our school or doing their work," Wick said.

The Reverend feels the way he prays is not in a discriminatory manner.

"I work very hard to pray for our people and not for an agenda but for wisdom, for leadership, for protection for our soldiers, sailors and Marines. I've tried to do it in a way that would invoke God's guidance, but I also start with a statement like, ‘Stand quietly or if you choose join me in prayer.' I don't ask for heads to be bowed, for eyes to be closed or any overt or external action to show that anyone is doing anything other than standing around waiting for me to be done," Wick said.

Wick also pointed out that he felt that by taking the tradition of prayer away it would in turn make the school less diverse.

"If I had all types of colored pens across the table and pulled one or two away, is that more diverse or less diverse? It's less. If you take something away that has been there, my argument is that you are being less diverse than you were before. I inherited this job 21 years ago. This was part of the job when I came on. I'm not trying to change anything, and I'm just trying to continue what's been there," Wick said..

Although feelings on the issue may differ, there is an overall consensus that a decision does need to be made, and pending the responses of the Student Government, and the Staff Council, President Schneider will better be able to decide on the placement of prayer on campus.