Free Republic

An analytic chemistry professor at public, taxpayer-funded East Carolina University (ECU) has failed miserably in his bizarre effort to prevent students from thanking God in personal statements, which will be read during a departmental graduation ceremony on Friday. The professor, Eli Hvastkovs, explicitly banned students from giving any credit to God in an email obtained by Campus Reform. He ordered students to “provide me something written in the third person” in a personal statement that discusses future plans or “thanks someone.” However, Hvastkovs wrote: You can’t thank God. I’m sorry about this — and I don’t want to have to outline the reasons...

A professor at a public university in North Carolina forbade his students from thanking God in personal statements that will be delivered during their departmental graduation ceremony on Friday. In an email obtained by Campus Reform, Assistant Professor Eli Hvastkovs, who teaches chemistry at East Carolina University (ECU), instructed his students to prepare a “family friendly” 35­ word personal statement that mentions future plans or “thanks someone.” The students, however, were explicitly forbidden from thanking God. “I've had some submissions that needed to be edited. so [sic] here are some guidelines,” the email reads. “1. You can't thank God. I'm...