Posted on 06/28/2005 7:23:53 AM PDT by zlala
Term paper about 'God' earns student failing grade 'He told me you might as well write about the Easter Bunny. He wanted to censor the word God.'
VICTORVILLE — For using the "G" word 41 times in a term paper, Bethany Hauf was given an "F" by her Victor Valley Community College instructor.
Hauf's teacher approved her term paper topic — Religion and its Place within the Government — on one condition: Don't use the word God. Instead of complying with VVCC adjunct instructor Michael Shefchik's condition Hauf wrote a 10-page report for her English 101 class entitled "In God We Trust."
"He said it would offend others in class," Hauf, a 34-year-old mother of four, said. "I didn't realize God was taboo."
Hauf has received legal assistance from the American Center for Law and Justice. The ACLJ is a conservative Christian legal foundation founded by Dr. M.G. "Pat" Robertson, who is also the founder, chairman and face of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
"I don't loose my First Amendment rights when I walk into that college," Hauf said. She is demanding an apology from the teacher and that the paper be re-graded.
The college says the issue over Hauf's paper, written during the spring semester, has been satisfactorily resolved. "We settled this matter during the course of this class," said Judy Solis, chair of VVC's English department. "She was treated fairly and she knew what the options were."
Shefchik could not be reached for this report.
Hauf took her concerns about not being able to use "God" in her report to her teacher, then to the department chair. During a joint meeting between all three the options were laid out: Hand in the report with the "G" word or revise, edit or re-write the paper, Solis said.
"She continued to write her paper," Solis said. "She knew what the consequences were."
Hauf acknowledges she knew her teacher's condition for writing the paper, but argued it would be impossible to write about the affect of Christianity on the development of the United States without using the word God. "He told me you might as well write about the Easter Bunny," Hauf said. "He wanted to censor the word God."
Hauf first approached her teacher about writing her paper in an April 12 e-mail, according to a 12-page ACLJ paper sent to the college offering legal opinions in favor of Hauf.
Shefchik wrote her back an e-mail approving her topic choice, but at the same time cautioning her to be objective in her reporting. "I have one limiting factor," Shefchik wrote, according to the ACLJ. "No mention of big 'G' gods, i.e., one, true god argumentation."
The ACLJ said his actions are unconstitutional. "A student's constitutional free speech rights to express religious views are fully protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments," the ACLJ wrote.
In addition to an apology and a re-grading of Hauf's paper, the ACLJ demands Shefchik "receive some kind of training to sensitize him to the constitutional dimensions of his employment in a public educational institution, including his duty to respect constitutional freedoms of expression."
Hauf's husband supports his wife's position. "She has to pursue this. Not only has her civil rights been violated this is an English class she took, not a political science course," Fritz Hauf said. "She should be graded on the composition not the 'G' word."
Though getting an "F" on the research paper Hauf got a "C" for the class.
LeRoy Standish may be reached at 951-6277 or leroy_standish@link.freedom.com.
I can't understand the logic of such a requirement.
Again, that one condition is AGAINST THE LAW.
I will agree that the time to question this would have been at the initial discussion. What I question is: Where is the thought process of thinking a student can write a paper about God w/out writing about God.
As far as this being news...it's a cultural thang....
I'm astonished that this took place in California.
It is blatantly illegal to censor the word God in a paper from a publicly-supported community college.
Unlike a private college, her First Amendment rights apply.
That's correct, but her paper wasn't "censored." She just got an F for not following instructions (stupid as those instructions may have been). She wasn't prevented from writing it; in fact she was expressly given the option of keeping it as it was and getting a bad grade as a result.
> her First Amendment rights apply
Do they? Hmm. I suggest you take a look at any of the Ten Commandment threads: you'll find LOTS of people who will happily point out to you that the first Amendment says that *Congress* is barred from censoring this or that... not state court houses and the like. The first amendment does not mention community colleges.
I e-mailed the guy. This is his response.
Subject: Re: Why? (I Will Be Gone Until Fall)
I am having recreation. I hope you are the same. I will be gone until the end of August.
Happy Trails,
Michael Shefchik
Figures you'd show up here to take the other side.
> Where is the thought process of thinking a student can write a paper about God w/out writing about God.
Non sequitur. The paper topic was about *religion* and government, not *God* and government.
Astute point.
Where's the ACLU?
I'd like to read the paper
Michael Shefchik = dumba#* moron
Did you read the article? The only thing she had to do to "fix" her paper was to get rid of the word God. That is what the review board said, but she refused to do that.
Considering she pulled a C despite getting an F in this paper, she obviously was doing well in the class prior to this.
She is not a moron.
And, according to the article, the only condition on the paper (and I believe her...college papers are usually quite open-ended) was page length and NOT to use the word God.
That stipulation is in violation of the law, as community colleges are taxpayer-supported and it is illegal to disallow religious writings in such institutions.
Not only that, does he wish for her to re-write history so as not to "offend"???
I'm sure Hitler would be proud of the way this teacher re-writes the Holocaust.
History may not always be pretty, or what we would have liked - but it always happened!
> Figures you'd show up here to take the other side.
The "other side?" You mean the side that says "If you've agreed to write a paper on topic X, and instead you write on topic Y, you'd be well advised to expect a lesser grade?"
The first amendment does not mention community colleges.
Hey, be careful -- there are hundreds of people on this site who will take that argument seriously.
That was my first reaction, too.
No, the side that has a cobb up its ass about the mere mention of God in any context.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.