A college graduate from Colorado Mesa University who is a proud Christian got some vindication after faculty members banned her from saying Jesus’ name or referencing the Bible in her speech during her nursing pinning ceremony.
Karissa Erikson had been threatened with “repercussions” if she included religious references in her speech. She was informed that her speech must be “free from any religious slant.” This Christian wasn’t having it. She enlisted the help of The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and together they got justice.
The ADF sent a letter to the University that will have Christians cheering. The letter said the faculty members “misunderstand what the First Amendment means,” and that their actions “are on the verge of engaging in viewpoint discrimination and violating the Establishment Clause.”
This was a quick victory for Karissa and the ADF. The program coordinator for the Bachelor of Nursing Program, Karen Urban, replied that faculty members will not be permitted to censor students. The University also stated that faculty had made a “mistake” by asking Karissa to remove religion from her speech.
Free speech is free speech. It should certainly not be limited when speaking at a public university. The school would be wise to force any of these faculty members to take a class on the United States Constitution. It appears being in their college bubbles for so many years has caused them to forgot what it is about.
These schools cannot sanitize religion or conservative principles from being spoken about on college campuses. Colleges used to be the focal point of free speech, now many of them are ground zero on censorship and bullying people into submission.
ADF legal counsel member Travis Barham made it clear. “Free speech on a college campus should be a no-brainer,” he remarked. “It’s disappointing that we even have to have these controversies, especially since the Supreme Court made it clear time and time again that the First Amendment exists to protect individual citizens rights to express their religious faith.”
This is a victory worth celebrating. Hopefully, other colleges take notice! It is not a crime to be Christian on campus, but many schools feel it should be.
Share this if you are a proud Christian!
Source: Campus Reform