FFRF has ensured that a program at the University of Florida in Gainesville will remain neutral regarding religion.
FFRF contacted the university over a mandatory program it planned to implement for all undergraduate students called “UF Quest,” which contained aspects that appeared to advance or favor religion. The university’s associate provost of undergraduate affairs explained that all students in the program would be encouraged to meditate on their spiritual tradition — which she equated with prayer.
In a letter sent on June 6, FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel spotlighted the constitutional state-church concerns with the program and requested that all program curriculum be approached from a secular standpoint. FFRF also asked that the program include all students by representing the nearly 35 percent of millennials who do not identify with religion. The university’s attorney responded on July 14, assuring FFRF that the program would not promote religion and that the university would work with FFRF to find humanist or atheist representatives if necessary in the future.
