The Wellborn Middle School in College Station, Texas, has reined in a coach continually using Christian messaging in his official communications, following a complaint by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
A concerned WMS parent informed the national state/church watchdog that the WMS’s Boys’ Athletic Coordinator ends mass emails sent to parents in his official capacity with a New Testament quote in bold font: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…’ —Romans 1:16.” The coordinator also serves as the sponsor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, head football coach and physical education teacher.
“When their school’s athletic program continuously praises the Christian god via email, student athletes will believe matching that open praise is essential to pleasing their team’s coach,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to Superintendent Tim Harkrider.
It is a basic constitutional principle that the government cannot show favoritism toward religion. The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause requires that the government remain neutral between religions, and between religion and nonreligion. By citing a proselytizing message from the bible in official emails to students and parents, this school official and spokesperson displays favoritism toward religion over nonreligion, and Christianity over all other faiths. This needlessly excludes and alienates families such as the complainant’s, who are part of the nearly 30 percent of the population today that is not religious.
Student athletes are especially susceptible to coercion, FFRF noted in its legal complaint letter. Such promotion of religion by an authority figure, especially a coach, creates a dilemma for student athletes: Either they must profess to believe, against their conscience, or openly dissent, risking their standing on the team. That ultimatum is exactly what the Establishment Clause guards against.
FFRF’s action caught the attention of the district, which worked to correct the violation.
Austin Dunson, College Station Independent School District’s director of communications, reached out to FFRF after the district corrected the issue. “We have recently provided district leaders with guidelines to follow and communicate to their staff regarding our updated brand,” Dunson wrote. “This includes all staff adhering to a consistent email signature that only includes their name, title, campus/department and contact information.”
FFRF is pleased religion will stay out of public school sports programs.
“An email footer in an official school communication is not the coach’s private pulpit,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “Students look to their coaches for more playtime or recommendations, and shouldn’t have to worry about conforming to their coaches’ personal religious beliefs. No student should have to pray to play.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 40,000 members across the country, including more than 1,700 members in Texas. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
