Graduation prayer provokes calls

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The new Southern Illinois University chancellor's decision to add a brief prayer during fall graduation ceremonies prompted about two dozen calls of protest, and he plans to form a committee to study the issue.

It was the first time in more than a decade that an invocation was part of graduation ceremonies at the Carbondale campus.

Walter Wendler, who came to SIUC from Texas A&M in July, said most of the comments came from faculty members.

"I haven't heard from any students about it," Wendler said.

He said he will appoint a committee of students, faculty and staff to discuss whether the invocation ought to be continued in some form.

"As an institution, we attend to the intellectual, moral and religious needs of our students. There are ways to do that, carefully, and I think it's important that we do so," Wendler said.

Nathan Stucky, an associate professor of speech communications who attended the ceremony Dec. 15, said he was "disturbed" by the prayer, given by undergraduate student body president Michael Perry.

"It was, of course, entirely appropriate for a student to speak during the ceremony, but a brief speech focusing on the accomplishments of graduating students, friends and families would have been more fitting," Stucky wrote in a note to Wendler.