Shortly after the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team won their game against Oregon State on March 31, 2024, in the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Final Four, Gamecocks Coach Dawn Staley was interviewed by an ESPN reporter on the court after being showered with confetti by her team. The reporter asked, “Since the last two games have been close and tough,…what’s impressed you about this [team]?” In answering the question, Coach Staley praised the resilience and hard work of the players and then explained, “I’m giving all the glory to God, though. …The devastating loss that we had last year, to put us back here with a totally different team—if you don’t believe in God, something’s wrong with you, seriously. I’m a believer. I’m a believer because He makes things come true. When you’re at your worst, He’s at His best.”
The next day, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter demanding that the University “take action to protect its student athletes and to ensure that Staley understands that she has been hired as a basketball coach and not a pastor” by having “Staley be educated as to her constitutional duties under the Establishment Clause” and “not continue to proselytize to her players.” The FFRF letter also complained about Coach Staley’s gameday devotionals and posting Bible verses, like “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” to her social media account on X. In response, The Rutherford Institute issued a letter reminding the University that the government cannot censor or script everything its employees say, and Coach Staley can still act as a private citizen who has the rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. Those two rights doubly protect her religious expressions and are complemented, rather than negated, by the Establishment Clause.
The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties organization, provides legal assistance at no charge to individuals whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated, and educates the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting their freedoms.
The Rutherford Institute’s letter to the University of South Carolina is available at www.rutherford.org.
Source: https://tinyurl.com/56zkh2n9
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