This past week, while indulging my nostalgic side by perusing the Kansas City Star online, I stumbled across an article that didn’t sit well with me. Six months ago, Wichita State University decided to undergo a renovation of their Harvey D. Grace Memorial Chapel in order to be more accommodating to Muslim students. The pews were replaced with stackable chairs in order to provide Muslim students with a place to spread their prayer mats. The renovations were accepted by students of all religious backgrounds, and thus the renovations remained uncontroversial until an alumna discovered the changes through Facebook. Said alumna then took it upon herself to involve fellow alumni and raise questions about where their money was going once it was endowed.
The specific alumna who sparked the controversy over the renovations has continued to escalate the situation through incessant posts on many forms of social media. Uneducated comments made by said alumna include a Facebook post where she states that “God will always trump allah.” Clearly, she is unaware that Allah is Arabic for God. In fact, she is likely unaware that Christian students favored the renovations almost as much as Muslim students. The stackable chairs have given the room a multipurpose feel that can now accommodate Bible studies and interfaith groups and activities. Another post states that “[a]gain, it was NEVER just about the pews...It was WHO/WHAT caused them to be removed and the affect it will have on non-Muslims.” Following this comment, Wichita State University President, John Bardo, agreed to reassess the university’s decision to renovate the chapel. Finally, Bardo came to the decision that the chapel will remain a place for students of all religious beliefs to utilize, just as the namesakes widow intended back in 1964.
My question is, what about freedom of religion? At a state university with no religious affiliation, the university is expected to serve the needs of their entire student body. Sure, the demographics clearly show Wichita State’s dominating Christian population, but what about the estimated one thousand Muslim students attending the university? These Muslim students deserve a place to practice their religion. FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, states that “if a public university allows expressive organizations to exist at all, it must allow religious organization to exist.” In FIRE’s Guide to Religious Liberty on Campus, it is clearly stated that,on public campuses, there are specific laws in place that ensure all religious groups have equal access to campus facilities as well as equal access to campus fundings. This leads me to wonder why this alumna felt the need to cause a scene about renovations that were not only in line with the laws surrounding this tender topic, but that actually benefitted the non-Muslim students that she claimed to be advocating for.
While behavior such as this may be warranted at a private, religiously affiliated school, when a student chooses to attend a public university, religious views are typically not in the forefront of their minds. Freedom of religion as well as the laws highlighted by FIRE, should ensure students equal opportunity in their respective universities, something students shouldn’t have to fight for. This situation served as a reminder me the importance of being a culturally competent individual. If not that, just being able to respect people of other faith traditions is an extremely important skill to have, and I hope that’s what you all can take away from this too.
