I just finished a CNA course at a public technical college.
On our last day of class we had a small graduation ceremony with the students and a few residents of the nursing home where we did clinicals.
Our instructor invited a guest speaker from a religious group she belongs to. The guest speaker preached about her religion and put down everyone who doesn't practice the same religion.
We had to go up one by one to receive a certificate from our teacher and a New Testament book from the guest speaker.
The school is not a private school and has no religious affiliation. This is a state approved program. The program had no religion component, discussions, or learning material. We were never asked if we felt comfortable with this before we were blindsided with it.
THIS ALL TOOK PLACE BEFORE OUR FINAL REVIEW WITH THE TEACHER FOR THE CLASS!
Is this legal?
What would you do?
How would you feel if you felt forced to participate in something like this outside of your own religious beliefs?
Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
i can remember when i taught nursing school at a vocational-technical school and was planning the pinning ceremony.
if we conducted the ceremony on school grounds, we could not have any prayer, religious speakers, etc. but, if we had the ceremony off-site, it was o.k.
not sure if this fits the op's situation or not. if so, it probably was proper. (i'm not commenting about the proselytizing, however. just the setting and the use of religion/religious speakers in the program.)
lee v. weisman, 505 u.s. 577 (1992)
this is the same case i came across as well......
below, red highlights my emphasis, applies to public schools:
are baccalaureate services constitutional? yes, if they are privately sponsored. public schools may not sponsor religious baccalaureate ceremonies. but parents, faith groups, and other community organizations are free to hold such services for students who wish to attend. the school may announce the baccalaureate in the same way it announces other community events. if the school allows community groups to rent or otherwise use its facilities after hours, then a privately sponsored baccalaureate may be held on campus under the same terms offered to any private group.
Yeah, privately sponsored events can do whatever they please. My school's classes (and not the school itself) has their pinning ceremonies at a local church.
I don't think the location matters as much as who's responsible for it.
i have been watching and waiting for the explosion on this thread. it was very nice that it didn’t happen.
usually online forums go bananas and blow up on topics like this. mainly because most of us didn't feel the need to make a rebuttal for every post we didn't agree with and let it go. good job on simply stating your opinion and agreeing to disagree, it's rare to see.
Sorry to bump this thread back up, but I received a response from the Dean and I thought I should share since so many people were following the thread. I'm am Xing out all names of people and the school.
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. This is not acceptable at a public educational system program, even if it is held at a private healthcare facility. I have spoken with XXX XXX, the Nursing Assistant Program Director. XXX has spoken with the instructors and assured me that this will not happen again. At our semi-annual nursing assistant faculty meeting we will be reminding all faculty that this is not appropriate.
I apologize for this. Again, I very much appreciate your bringing this to my attention.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with further questions.
Sorry to bump this thread back up, but I received a response from the Dean and I thought I should share since so many people were following the thread. I'm am Xing out all names of people and the school.
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. This is not acceptable at a public educational system program, even if it is held at a private healthcare facility. I have spoken with XXX XXX, the Nursing Assistant Program Director. XXX has spoken with the instructors and assured me that this will not happen again. At our semi-annual nursing assistant faculty meeting we will be reminding all faculty that this is not appropriate.
I apologize for this. Again, I very much appreciate your bringing this to my attention.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with further questions.
XXX XXX
I'm glad you got an adequate response from the Dean!
sirI, MSN, APRN, NP
17 Articles; 45,878 Posts
i can remember when i taught nursing school at a vocational-technical school and was planning the pinning ceremony.
if we conducted the ceremony on school grounds, we could not have any prayer, religious speakers, etc. but, if we had the ceremony off-site, it was o.k.
not sure if this fits the op's situation or not. if so, it probably was proper. (i'm not commenting about the proselytizing, however. just the setting and the use of religion/religious speakers in the program.)
this is the same case i came across as well......below, red highlights my emphasis, applies to public schools:
as for the above quotes/links, i have no clue if accurate or not and/or if applies in the op's situation.