On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Calls for Public Schools to Respect Right of Students, Teachers to Participate in National See You at the Pole Day
Students, Educators and Community Members Will Gather to Pray Around the School FlagpoleCHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, is calling on public school administrators to respect the right of students and faculty to gather prior to the start of the school day and participate in their local "See You at the Pole" events on Wednesday, September 15, 2004. See You at the Pole (SYATP) is a student-initiated and student-led movement that revolves around students praying together on the third Wednesday of September, usually before school and usually at the school's flagpole. The annual prayer gathering began in Burleson, Tex., in 1990, when organizers first challenged young people to meet on a common day to launch their school year in prayer. SYATP has since grown to be an international day of public student prayer, numbering some 2.5 million students in 2003. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have succeeded in protecting the rights of students to promote and participate in SYATP events in previous years. Guidelines on SYATP, as well as religious expression and access issues in public schools, are available online here (PDF).
"It's important that students, teachers and others know that they have the right to participate in See You at the Pole events--a right affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "The rallies are part of a long tradition of free and equal participation in expressive activities guaranteed by our Constitution."
Last year, Rutherford Institute attorneys successfully defended the free speech and religious rights of a Fellowship of Christian Athletes student group in Kansas to advertise the See You at the Pole event on school bulletin boards. School administrators had prohibited the group from putting up posters, citing the posters' religious content. Institute legal staff informed an FCA representative that prohibiting the posters violated the students' rights to free speech, free expression and free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. School officials relented and agreed to allow the FCA students to display their posters. In Shoreline, Wash., high school officials prohibited a student from distributing information about See You at the Pole. After Institute legal staff informed school officials of the student's rights, they quickly reversed their decision and allowed her to distribute the flyers. In California, high school officials informed a youth pastor that he would not be allowed to attend See You at the Pole at their campus unless he underwent a tuberculosis test and criminal background check. After Institute legal staff pointed out that testing and background checks are only mandatory for school employees and volunteers, school officials relented and allowed the youth pastor to attend the event. In Texas, school officials refused to allow high school teachers to attend the See You at the Pole rally. After being alerted to possible legal action by The Rutherford Institute, school officials opted to respect the teachers' constitutional rights.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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