The Freedom From Religion Foundation has helped to remove an unlawful religious quilt display from a public hallway at the University of Florida.
A large religious quilt display hanging in a hallway shared by the veterinary department and the department of aging and geriatric research said “all creatures great and small/the Lord God made them all.” This religious endorsement prompted a concerned student to contact FFRF. Staff Attorney Stephanie Schmitt wrote a letter to university president Bernie Machen on March 1, 2012, noting that “when a publicly-funded college… posts a statement promoting a religious viewpoint, that statement sends a message that people adhering to certain religious beliefs are favored members of the community and that people who have different religious beliefs or are nonreligious are outsiders in their community.”
“Such a religious message offends Florida’s underrepresented minority religious population,” added Schmitt.
The associate vice president, in a June 29 response said that the quilt was left behind when the veterinary department changed buildings, that she anticipates “removing it from its current location” and does not “have plans to display it at this time.”
