FFRF stops Minnesota State faculty meetings in church (Nov. 9, 2011)

FFRF received a complaint in August 2011 regarding a faculty orientation program at Minnesota State University that has been held in a local church for the past few years. In an Aug. 15 letter of complaint, FFRF Staff Attorney Stephanie Schmitt asked the president of Minnesota State University, Richard Davenport, to cease the practice of holding official university meetings in religious locations. After a Nov. 7 follow-up, Davenport’s office responded that “appropriate arrangements will be made by the faculty member who organizes and plans the program . . . to hold the program on campus or in a commercial conference facility in subsequent years.”