DENVER | An ex-college football player is taking his alma mater to court for rejecting an inscription on a personalized locker room nameplate over his request for two citations from the Bible.
Attorneys for Michael Lucas, a former nose tackle for the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, filed a lawsuit last week contending that the public university violated his constitutional rights by refusing to allow the words “Colossians 3:23 and Micah 5:9” on the nameplate.
A 2003 graduate who played five years for the Orediggers, Mr. Lucas was participating in a fundraiser on behalf of the school’s Clear Creek Athletic Complex, in which donors were offered the opportunity to have the inscription of their choosing placed on recognition plaques on lockers.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court by attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the inscription was blocked because the Colossians verse— “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” — contains the word “Lord.”
“Public colleges and universities should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas, especially in a forum like this,” said ADF legal counsel Natalie Decker in a statement.
While Mr. Lucas had requested only the citations and not the entire verses, CSM officials told him that no nameplate inscriptions could include the words “Lord,” “God” or “Jesus,” or refer to verses that contain any of those words, according to the lawsuit.
“The school initially imposed no restrictions — or even guidelines — on the type of message a donor could include, and contrary to what the school is arguing, the First Amendment protects — not restricts — a simple reference to a Bible verse,” Ms. Decker said. “It’s patently ridiculous to argue that a Bible reference that doesn’t include the text of the verse is somehow inappropriate simply because someone might look it up and see that ’Lord’ is mentioned there.”
The school issued a statement Friday saying that the verses conflicted with CSM’s “obligations as a public university” and violated its policy against religious discrimination.
“Under recent United States Supreme Court case law, the speech at issue is considered government speech, as it would have been permanently inscribed on university-owned property,” the statement said. “As a state institution, Mines is bound by the U.S. Constitution and the university’s policy prohibiting unlawful discrimination by promoting or supporting one faith or belief over others.”
But ADF attorneys argue that the university is actually committing religious discrimination by censoring Mr. Lucas’ speech, saying that the Constitution “prohibits the government from treating religion with hostility.”
“The censorship of Mr. Lucas’s religious speech — while permitting similar, but nonreligious, private speech from other members of the public regarding the same and similar subject matters — also constitutes viewpoint discrimination, which is unconstitutional in any type of forum,” said the complaint.
Mr. Lucas, who donated $2,500 to the nameplate fundraiser, ultimately agreed to compromise with an inscription of the text of Micah 5:9, which says, “Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies, and all your foes will be destroyed,” without the words “Micah 5:9.”
Other inscriptions approved by CSM included messages such as “Give ’Em Hell,” “OK gentlemen, it’s time to gird your loins,” and “Take your whiskey clear.”
In its statement, the university added that its community is “made up of many faiths and beliefs and the university aims to foster a supportive and inclusive university environment for all.”
“Mines is disappointed the donor has decided to seek legal action,” the statement said.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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