UCLA confirms student can thank Jesus in graduation statement

We read:

"On May 21, Dr. Pamela Hurley, student affairs advisor for the Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology Department at UCLA, e-mailed all graduating students to collect short personal statements from them that she would read as they crossed the stage to receive their degree at the June 13 department commencement ceremony. Hurley informed students that the statements, called “Words of Wisdom,” could contain “almost anything,” including expressions of gratitude, UCLA experiences, family acknowledgements, favorite quotes, etc. She added that some of the most memorable statements were “fanciful” or “outrageously wild,” but suggested that students bypass political, derogatory, or “specific religious expression.”

Popa opened her proposed statement with, “I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” before thanking her deceased father and other family members for their encouragement, and closed with her future career plans.

Hurley responded in an e-mail that UCLA observes the “separation of church and state,” and that instead of reading, ‘I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,’ Hurley would only allow, ‘First, I want to thank God.’” When Popa objected, Hurley said the only other option was to read none of Popa’s comments at the ceremony.

After ADF attorneys wrote to the school over the matter on Friday afternoon, Popa received a voice mail on Friday evening saying that she would be allowed to read her comments as originally written. The university confirmed this by letter Tuesday.

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