The Alliance Defending Freedom is fighting back against a campaign by the Freedom From Religion Foundation to get public universities to drop their basketball chaplains, who also serve as “character coaches,” calling them unconstitutional.
In a letter to the University of Kansas, one of the targeted schools, the alliance says the Establishment Clause gives universities “great leeway in accommodating the religious needs of their students.”
The group said federal courts “allow universities much greater latitude in accommodating religion” than elementary and high schools.
It noted that many other public entities – the military, prisons, hospitals, police, airports and even legislatures – have been approved for hiring chaplains or providing chapels by court rulings.
Because of their busy public schedules, student athletes don’t have time to attend regular religious services unless a chaplain travels with the team, the letter said.
The letters also went to the University of Louisville, University of Maryland, University of Virginia, University of Oklahoma and Wichita State University, all targeted by the foundation, the alliance said in a press release.
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