Mote overturns prayer decision

University President Dan Mote has decided to overrule the University Senate and continue the university's tradition of offering a prayer at commencement.

"For many people, a prayer of gratitude and a moment of reflection are an important part of our commencement tradition. A great many people who participate in our ceremonies either embrace this tradition or are willing to allow others who value it to have it as part of the ceremony," Mote said in a written statement. "After careful reflection, I have decided to continue our current tradition with respect to the invocation at commencement."

Mote, who declined to comment beyond his statement, rarely overrules the senate, which directly advises him on university policy. But Senate Chair Ken Holum said Mote needed to respond to concerns from people outside the university community, particularly after a controversy earlier this week regarding the screening of part of a pornographic movie on the campus.

Holum, who said he respects Mote's decision, said he had received about 20 to 30 negative e-mail messages about the issue and that Mote had received many more.

"The firestorm had to do with a lot of things," he said. "Certainly had to do with the porn issue."

The senate had voted 32-14 on Monday to end the tradition of offering a prayer at commencement after a lengthy debate. Most senators said the tradition violated the principle of separation of church and state, but Rev. Peter Antoci, the university's Episcopal chaplain, said the decision sent a message that religious speech on the campus was "unacceptable."

The proposal to end the prayer originally came before the senate in 2005, but it had never been voted on. A different proposal, which the senate Executive Committee debated last year, would have replaced the prayer with a moment of silence.

The two-minute prayer, said at the beginning of the campuswide commencement ceremony, is currently offered on a rotating basis by one of the university's 14 chaplains, who are told to make it "as inclusive as possible."

Every student senator voted in favor of ending the prayer, and some lamented Mote's decision to overrule them.

"Unfortunately, President Mote does not respect that we are the students who represent the student population in the shared government system," said David Zuckerman, an undergraduate student senator.

"I hope he did not make his decision within the context of current events that may have portrayed the university in a negative light," he added. "I hope he made this decision based on content, not politics."

Though Mote carefully thanked all the members of the senate in his statement, Holum recognized this was not a normal situation.

"This isn't a normal issue," Holum said. "Normally the president and us are on the same wavelength."

taustindbk@gmail.com. Senior staff writer Marissa Lang contributed to this report.