My Brother's Graduating Class

[ReinnieR]

Left without a prayer
No speech by top student after being told to strike out religion
Friday, June 22, 2007
By N. CLARK JUDD
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Bayonne High School valedictorian Jeremy Jerschina had wanted to give a heartfelt speech at his graduation ceremony on Wednesday.

A religious young man bound for the Christian school Calvin College in Michigan this fall, 18-year-old Jerschina said that to speak from the heart as he addressed his graduating class, he had to speak to God as well.

But Principal Richard Baccarella and the Bayonne Board of Education would not let him speak if he included a prayer - so he didn't speak at all.

With his mother Bozena looking on as the pair sat in the living room of their West 25th Street home yesterday, Jerschina described his exchanges with Baccarella and Superintendent of Schools Patricia McGeehan, in which they asked him to remove the prayer from his speech.

He said the day before the ceremony they even asked one of his former teachers to help him rewrite the speech in a way that would satisfy the school board, although they could not reach a compromise.

On graduation day, Jerschina said, Baccarella told him that if he decided to give the speech without the prayer, he could signal the principal as he sat on stage to be recognized as valedictorian and that Baccarella would give him time to speak. But, Jerschina said, that put him in a position where he had to "either rip out my beliefs or stay silent."

"God and Christ are the reason I did how I did in high school, and are what I stand for most," Jerschina said. "The principal and superintendent said I could do the speech if I left the prayer out, and I told them that I'd rather do the whole thing or not at all."

In a statement released yesterday, McGeehan said the school district would have been breaking the law had it allowed Jerschina to speak.

"While the Bayonne school district has the utmost respect for the student's conviction, the Bayonne school district must follow the law and must sometimes make very difficult decisions to insure that it meets its legal obligations," said the statement.

Ayesha Khan, legal director for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, agreed.

"Because it is a school graduation ceremony and a school facility, completely facilitated by the school, all that comes together to leave the audience with the impression that everything that happens in the graduation, the school stands behind," she said yesterday.

Khan added that since Jerschina was speaking as the school valedictorian, and since the Bayonne school board's policy is to approve student speeches before they are given, Jerschina's prayer would be considered as presented on the school's behalf - violating the Constitutional principal of the separation of church and state.

Jerschina's mother, Bozena, who moved to the United States from Poland in 1989, cited another right guaranteed in the Constitution - the freedom of speech.

"This is supposed to be a free country with freedom of speech," she said. "But instead there is censorship."

[ReinnieR]

[url="http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/118249211412960.xml&coll=3"]http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?....xml&coll=3[/url]

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='ReinnieR' post='1301881' date='Jun 26 2007, 06:19 AM'][url="http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/118249211412960.xml&coll=3"]http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?....xml&coll=3[/url][/quote]

It was my impression that as long as it is student-led, it is still within the law. I realize the speeches have to be approved (I went through the same approval process w/ my salutatorian speech), but I had thought that was more to make sure there was no libel or profanity. All of us who gave speeches at my school (a public high school) gave fairly religious speeches actually. And it only had to be approved by the principal, not the school board. Hmm, doesn't seem right.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='ReinnieR' post='1301878' date='Jun 26 2007, 01:17 AM']In a statement released yesterday, McGeehan said the school district would have been breaking the law had it allowed Jerschina to speak.

"While the Bayonne school district has the utmost respect for the student's conviction, the Bayonne school district must follow the law and must sometimes make very difficult decisions to insure that it meets its legal obligations," said the statement.[/quote]

Wrong....

[Farsight one]

I find it odd that saying "God bless" would get your microphone cut off and get you in legal trouble, but saying "God ****" in such speeches is acceptable...

[Paddington]

Farsight One, you are exaggerating.


I'm all for a valedictorian talking about God, Jesus, Sacraments, The 4 Spiritual Laws, Allah, Rah, whatever. They earned it. They should get to talk about what matters most to them and what they want their classmates to hear.
But, I do think it is out of place to ask people to join in a prayer. The valedictorian knows that most people in the building are not likely to be into it. Not commenting on the legal side of it. Just saying.