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School chastised for ‘prayer vigil’
Group reprimands UW-Whitewater for language used before memorial event
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An e-mail sent by University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to inform students of a “prayer vigil” for a student killed in the Fort Hood shootings was met with criticism from a Madison-based nontheism group, claiming UW-Whitewater was out of its jurisdiction as a public university to invite the student body to pray.
The vigil was held Nov. 11 in memory of Amy Krueger, a victim of the Fort Hood shootings and senior and psychology major at UW-Whitewater.
According to a statement, the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote a letter Nov. 10 urging UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard Telfer to change the name “prayer vigil” to “memorial service.”
“We were asked to communicate [the vigil] to the students and we did,” UW-Whitewater spokesperson Sara Kuhl said.
The e-mail, which was sent to the entire student body from the Whitewater Department of Student Life, read, “Prayer vigil for Amy Krueger: candlelight prayer vigil for Amy Krueger, a UW-Whitewater student killed in the Fort Hood shootings, will be held at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, by the flagpole outside the University Bookstore.”
Kuhl said while Whitewater sent out the e-mail, they did not create or organize it.
According to Brian Zanin, Catholic campus minister at the Campus Ministry Center, Krueger’s friends and students at UW-Whitewater originally organized the vigil. They then went to the CMC to get the word out to students and arrange further organizing.
“This event was organized by Amy’s friends, who went through the CMC, who then sent it to the university, who sent out the e-mail to all students,” Zanin said.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom From Religion, said Whitewater violated its own rules as a public university by inviting the student body to pray. She pointed out it was not mentioned in the e-mail the event was privately sponsored.
Gaylor also said while there was no mention of the event on the CMC website Nov. 10, the day before the event there was a notice on the UW-Whitewater website for the event, which might cause confusion over who was sponsoring the event.
Gaylor added her daughter, who is a student at UW-Whitewater, was not sure if it was a mandatory event and did not appreciate the university’s e-mail invitation to prayer. However, not all students were concerned over the title of “prayer vigil.”
According to Zanin, members from the community and students attended. The half-hour ceremony included a prayer and hymn offered for Amy.
“The event functioned the way they wanted to function,” Kuhl said. “It was not a university-sponsored event.”
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IP hash: e4539c7f
Annie Gaylor is a probably one of the most annoying people in Madison. Her militant atheism is just as bad as the religious fundamentalists on library mall.
Also, her daughter must be as dumb as a pile of rocks if she seriously thought that the prayer vigil was a “mandatory event.”
IP hash: 0007ddae
In this time of grief for students, it disturbs me that this crazy woman would try to use such a benign thing as a prayer vigil for her own anti-religion soapbox. Agreed with 11:16. Her daughter sounds rather unintelligent or is trying turn a sad situation into stupid politics.
IP hash: 89539089
Yep…agree with the first two comments. Theres a reason her daughter is attending whitewater and not madison. I can’t believe this woman would take this tragic event and make such a big deal out of the title. Its for the girls family holding the event. I can’t believe people these days…instead of christmas tree its “holiday tree” instead of prayer vigil we need memorial service. Seriously people when is this going to stop.
IP hash: f5a5fbee
A fellow student dies and all the daughter of Gaylor can do is focus on not appreciating an email invitation to prayer? There’s compassion and other-centeredness for you! Apparently the Gaylor daughter is unquestioningly following in mommy’s footsteps. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. God Bless all of you who prayed and continue to pray and who aren’t afraid to call it prayer!
IP hash: 42b6d2b6
Yes, its sad that a student died and people are more than welcome to attend prayer vigils, but Gaylor is not wrong. The private organization should be sending out the email, not the school. Whitewater wouldn’t send out an invitation to an atheist convention, nor a bible study, nor a Koran reading and so it shouldn’t send out one to a similar religious event such as a prayer session.
It may seem minute, but its still an important distinction. A public university should do its best to remain entirely secular, even in extreme cases.