Distribution of religious materials sparks concern
By Paul Johnson
IV Leader Staff, May 5, 2005
Some person or persons has been placing Christian tracts around campus for the past few months, but campus officials have been unable to identify the person who is doing this.
The main problem is where this material is being placed. According to Bob Marshall, vice president of student services, this religious material is being left on school bulletin boards, placed in plastic holders in bathrooms, shoved into faculty door jams or placed in plastic room number holders.
Marshall’s biggest concern is not what is being passed out, but how it is being distributed. “The concern is that this gives the appearance of the school’s endorsement of a particular religious view.” said Marshall.
Because of where the material is placed, he is worried that people will believe the school is promoting this material.
Marshall stressed that any sanctioned school club or organization can have a table in the lobby or pass out any type of material, as long as it is stamped by his office.
No school group or organization has been implicated as the source of this material. One of the Bible study groups on campus, 6O7, has taken measures to make sure that its members are not involved in this activity.
Nevertheless, employees of the college have shared concerns about how religious material has been distrusted on campus, according to Marshall. “Faculty members were concerned about the way that this material was being disturbed, not by the material itself.”
Amanda Bigelow, political science professor, has voiced similar concerns about distributing religious material at IV. “It’s fine that they distribute this material so long as they go through the proper channels like the rest of us,” she said .
A more important concern for Bigelow is her belief that this type of behavior can lead to religious harassment. She states that some faculty have been targeted with material pushed under their doors or left in their plastic number holders. While she has not received any, she is concerned about her colleagues.
In addition, a couple of weeks ago Jeff Fesperman locked his office for the weekend on a Friday and found religious material left on his deck when he returned Monday morning that was not there before.
Fesperman, a geology teacher, has two main concerns about the incident. First, that someone gained access to his locked office, and second, that people are distributing religious material at a state-sponsored school. “A religious group should not be allowed to use a state facility for their religious activities,” stated Fesperman.
Safety Services has reviewed some security tapes to determine if they can identify anyone distributing material.
“They [Safety Services] have located a couple frames where it appears that a person is placing some material” said Marshall. However, these images are inconclusive.
In the meantime, Marshall has stated that no disciplinary action will be taken against whoever is responsible for distributing this material. His main goal is to help inform the person or persons why they need to stop giving out material in this way and the potential separation of church and state issues involved.
Public bulletin boards are available for students near Jacobs Library to post materials. All other bulletin boards are only for official school use and communication, according to Marshall.