Posted on 08/29/2006 6:32:27 AM PDT by demkicker
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Aug. 28) - Three former New Mexico State University football players - all Muslims - sued the university and coach Hal Mumme on Monday, saying they were dismissed from the team because of their religious beliefs.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of Mu'Ammar Ali and brothers Anthony and Vincent Thompson.
"Universities are supposed to be places of evolved thinking and reason, not of base intolerance and bigotry" said Peter Simonson, executive director of ACLU New Mexico. "In this case, the university failed its purpose, and a coach indulged in those prejudices to assert his own religious preferences over the players and the team."
The lawsuit alleges Mumme, who was hired by New Mexico State in January 2005, instituted a "religious brotherhood" within the football team and singled out Muslim athletes. It claims Mumme had players recite the Lord's Prayer after each practice and before each game. Ali and the Thompsons said that practice made them feel like outcasts and caused them to pray separately from the other players.
Simonson said all three have transferred to Portland State.
"I really don't know what the allegations are," said Bruce Kite, the school's general counsel, who added he had not seen the lawsuit. "To say anything at this point and time would not be appropriate."
The NMSU board of regents and William V. Flores, the school's vice president and provost, also were named in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, not long after Mumme learned Ali and the Thompsons were Muslim, he prohibited the Thompsons from attending the team's spring 2005 training camp and questioned Ali about his attitudes toward al-Qaida.
The lawsuit says the Thompsons were dismissed from the team on Sept. 2, 2005 because they moved their belongings to an unapproved locker and were labeled "troublemakers." Ali, the Aggies' leading rusher in 2004, learned he had been dismissed via a telephone message from Mumme on Oct. 9, 2005, according to the lawsuit.
Last year, the ACLU filed a grievance against Mumme, alleging he repeatedly questioned Ali about al-Qaida, and asked for a public apology, plus disciplinary action against Mumme.
In response to the allegations, New Mexico State hired Albuquerque law firm Miller Stratvery to investigate. The firm concluded the football program had not engaged in religious discrimination against the three Muslim athletes. The investigation included interviews with the football coaching staff, athletics department personnel and student-athletes.
During a news conference last November, Mumme said he had apologized to his team for any unintentional actions that might have offended anyone.
Simonson said Monday the school's failure to take action against Mumme and the conclusions reached by the law firm NMSU hired were factors in the decision to file the lawsuit.
"The only resource left to us was a lawsuit," Simonson said. "When you've got players reporting that the coach is having players recite the Lord's Prayer as a routine practice ... that in itself suggests a discriminatory environment."
So how did a Muslim get admitted?
Maybe Mexico could do better with this lot.
Ask Yale.
Good question.
They (Moooozies) should all be asked about al-Qaida!
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
With regards these ACLU people, who are really getting under my skin ...................
Yes, Christmas cards. This is coming early (really early) so that you can get ready to include an important address to your list.
What a GREAT idea!
Fun with the ACLU......
Wanna have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year.
As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice, CHRISTIAN, card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world.
Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it
Here's the Address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's Not the Christian Way, you know!)
ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor New York, NY 10004
Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 39 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". . . . It's a Christmas Tree even in the fields!!
And pass this on to your email lists. We really want to communicate with the ACLU! They really DESERVE us!!
First I've heard of this...
ROTFL, good idea! You'll need to post a thread on FR in early December.
That's appropriate. I wouldn't want an al Qaida supporter walking into my locker room everyday. (BTW, I thought mooslim men were shy about public nudity. Did they request separate shower facilities?)
The lawsuit says the Thompsons were dismissed from the team on Sept. 2, 2005 because they moved their belongings to an unapproved locker and were labeled "troublemakers."
That's not a surprise. I used to work in the Detroit area which has a large mooslim population. Had a new guy come in from Syria, I believe, around mid-September. As Halloween approached the office decorations went up. This guy started complaining to anybody that would listen and was quite hostile about it. He would approach people in their cube and complain about their Halloween display.
Same thing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. This was pre-911, so other than being annoyed, nobody paid him much mind. Finally, management got a chance to get rid of him and jumped on it.
But as far as the three mooslims on the football team, if I was the coach, I would have kept all three on the team and used them for tackling dummies.
The dogma of Islam is discord sowing, hate and intolorence.
'Transfered to Portland State'. Why does that not surprise me?
Moslems make poor "victims" ~ they whine entirely too much.
Well, from this point forward if you're a second rate player and get cut just claim you're a Muslim and sue.
I suddenly feel I'm becoming a New Mexico State football fan.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the federal lawsuit...Of course they did.
Carolyn
I'll do that !
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