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.”