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University of Michigan doesn’t similarly support Jewish, Christian events
The University of Michigan’s recent sponsorship of multiple Muslim Iftar religious events has drawn scrutiny from a civil rights expert.
Furthermore, the Ann Arbor campus spent $1,040.50 buying food for the event, according to a public records request filed by The College Fix.
“Iftar marks the moment when those fasting for Ramadan break their fast at sundown,” an event page on the University of Michigan’s School of Information states.
The school sponsored the event through its Organizational Culture and Community team.
The Flint campus also sponsored a similar event through its Center for Global Engagement. Both events drew criticism from civil rights activist Mark Perry, a retired University of Michigan professor.
“UM illegally violated the separation of church and state outlined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by the involvement of university administrative offices and academic schools and colleges in promoting and funding religion,” Perry told The Fix via emails.
It is one thing for student groups themselves to sponsor events, Perry said, but it becomes problematic when the university gets involve.
The former UMich-Flint professor said there is a double standard at play.
“I found this to be a troubling double standard since university-sponsored Christian and Jewish religious events/parties/meals/celebrations are generally strictly prohibited at UM and most other public universities and public schools,” he said.
Perry, who has filed hundreds of federal civil rights complaints to stop race and sex-based discrimination, said Americans United for the Separation of Church and State agreed with his concerns.
The legal group wrote to the University of Michigan and asked for the school to “fully disassociate from future religious events such as Ramadan Iftars,” Perry said.
The University of Michigan’s legal team did respond to Americans United for Separation of Church and State and said it planned to look into the situation, according to an email shared with The Fix.
Associate General Counsel Kelly Cruz wrote:
As a public institution, we agree that we must uphold our duties under the Establishment Clause and it is our every intent to do so. We are reviewing some of the details you shared, so that we can address them on a moving forward basis. The University looks forward to continuing to enable community members to celebrate their vibrant cultures on our campuses while staying within the bounds of the law.
Perry criticized the comment about “vibrant cultures.”
“The legal issue isn’t about celebrating cultures, it’s about celebrating religion at university-sponsored and funded religious events!” he wrote to The Fix.
He said it is doubtful anyone at the school checked with a campus attorney before sponsoring the event.
“I’m fairly certain that none of the sponsoring academic or administrative units ever thought about getting legal clearance for Iftar meals from UM’s General Counsel, and it would have likely continued indefinitely until challenged,” Perry told The Fix.
In the past several weeks, the University of Michigan-Flint and Ann Arbor did not respond to requests for comment via email and phone call about pushback for the sponsorship and whether the school had ever sponsored other religious events, such as Christian or Jewish groups.
Organizational Club and Community also did not respond to The Fix’s request for comment via email. The College Fix asked whether OCC had ever had sponsorship from UM for past events, and whether they knew of what issues could arise from this.
