Liberty Counsel defends W&M Cross

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Liberty Counsel defends W&M cross

Legal advocate says removal of symbol violates Constitution

BY ANDREW PETKOFSKY

TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Thursday, December 7, 2006

WILLIAMSBURG -- The fight over the College of William and Mary's removal of a cross from display in its chapel could become a federal case.

The founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a legal-advocacy group with ties to Liberty University in Lynchburg, said yesterday that a letter his organization sent to W&M President Gene R. Nichol this month could be a precursor to a federal lawsuit.

The Dec. 1 letter asked Nichol to respond in writing that he will permit the cross to remain on display permanently in the school's Wren Chapel. In a change of 75-year practice, Nichol in October instructed that the cross be stored and taken out only when requested for use in Christian services.

"This is a friendly attempt to bring about a resolution without having to resort to litigation," Mathew D. Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said in a telephone interview yesterday. "Liberty Counsel is always ready to litigate if education doesn't resolve the matter."

Staver, dean of the law school at Liberty University, the Lynchburg school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, began his advocacy organization in 1989. Its purpose, according to its Web site, is "advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family."

The organization is based in Lynchburg and Orlando, Fla.

Nichol has said he changed the policy regarding display of the cross in W&M's Wren Chapel because permanent display of the religious symbol made some members of the public university's faculty, staff and student body feel like outsiders.

The change has elicited support and criticism. An Internet petition created by an alumnus that calls for the return of the cross has received more than 6,000 signatures.

Nichol was not available for an interview yesterday, but W&M spokesman Brian Whitson said the change in policy was not a political or legal matter.

"This is a real issue that has an impact on people," Whitson said. "The message we are sending is that we want all people -- Christians, Jews, Muslims or members of any faith -- to be welcome in our chapel."

Staver said he believes Nichol's action violated the Constitution's freedom-of-religion guarantees. Because the cross had been displayed in the chapel for 75 years without complaint, he said, an order to remove it demonstrates hostility toward Christianity rather than the neutral stance required by the First Amendment.

"I think his decision to remove the cross is politically unwise and constitutionally incorrect," Staver said.

He acknowledged that religious freedom cases have in the past been efforts to combat the alleged endorsement of a particular religion by a government entity.

But he said governmental hostility toward religion is also prohibited.

"I think it would be a unique case in that respect," Staver said, "but it's a two-way street."

Contact staff writer Andrew Petkofsky at apetkofsky@timesdispatch.com or (757) 229-1512.
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From Beach Girl: To the Board of Visitors:

My hope would be that this issue does not reach the world of lawyers because then, forgive me, common sense as conveyed by our Founding Fathers frequently gets thrown out of the window. And this would be as a result of the unilateral decision of one man with an agenda. Hopefully the Board of Visitors will take the matter out of Nichol's hands and either buy out his contract and let him go his merry way, or not renew his contract in July 2008.