There’s no ‘God’ in graduation (The Gateway Online, University of Alberta)
September 16, 2008
An article by Ian Bushfield, President of the CFI affiliated University of Alberta Atheists and Agnostics and Regional Campus Coordinator for Western Canadahttp://www.thegatewayonline.ca/articles/opinion/volume-xcix-number-5/there-s-no-god-graduation
September 2008
Upon reaching the gruelling end of a long and tiresome journey, students embark across a stage for the convocation. Yet, despite the movement toward multicultural inclusiveness and tolerance, this is one stage that keeps the flame of bigotry burning bright.
At convocation, new graduates are presented with a charge by the University’s chancellor, in which he states: “I charge you to use [the powers, rights, and privileges of University degrees] for the glory of God.” It’s commonly understood that the big-G “God” here is some variant of the monotheistic God (or the one Jews, Christians, and Muslims live in fear of).
A recent Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey suggests that around 36 per cent of Canadians under 25 don’t believe in a god. This means that when the chancellor issues his charge, he’s discriminating against all the students who disagree with the idea of living in fear of a deity. He also offends the senses of the majority who believe that a public institution should have no stance on religious issues. Atheism and agnosticism aren’t the only beliefs under attack— the idea of separation of church and state is as well.
After discovering this issue, the University of Alberta Atheists and Agnostics (UAAA) drafted a letter which was sent to the President’s Office on 14 July. Hope for a quick move to inclusiveness was dashed when, nearly a month later, the UAAA received a brief response stating that office had discussed the issue earlier and decided against doing anything. After the the minutes of the meeting featuring this discussion were requested, the President’s office decided that this was an issue that required a FOIPP request.
It’s disappointing to hear that this University wishes to remain in its dark-aged roots, and that they couldn’t even provide a reason for their decision not to change the charge even with sizable opposition. In spite of relatively little awareness of this issue, a petition has recieved over a hundred signatures from students who are outraged by this break in secular values and the separation of church and state, and a comparable number of members in a Facebook group for the same purpose. However, their voices remain unacknowledged.
The push for a secular convocation has tremendous support not just from atheists and humanists but from students, alumni, and faculty of diverse backgrounds—including people who deeply believe in God but who support the separation of Church and state and recognize that this is a public, not private, university. Yet, the University continues to ignore these growing concerns, and refuses to even take the time to justify or debate their position.
The push towards secularism is also not without precendence. The University of Calgary’s admission is to grant degrees to those who have “earned” them and give them the “rights and privileges, powers, and responsibilities pertaining to those degrees.” The University of Toronto also secularized its convocation several years ago. Clearly, the U of A can look to be as progressive as their fellow institutions.
I’m not requesting the charge to say “use your glory to disprove god and villify religion,” I just want to feel welcome in a ceremony that we have all equally earned. Further, I don’t wish to define “god” in some way that it makes everyone happy, as some would suggest. I don’t arbitrarily interepert words differently to get through the day. Interpreting an “F” on your transcript as “Fantastic” doesn’t make it so. The University’s charge comes from the charge from Oxford University, which has a clearly Christian foundation.
It shouldn’t be unreasonable for a group of students who pay upwards of $25 000 to get a degree to ask to be included in a celebration of their achievements. The President’s disregard for such legitimate concerns is abhorrent and intolerant, and I call for a secular convocation at the University of Alberta and an end to the denigration of the hard work of all students.