'Whiteboard' events foster discussion on 1st amendment

  • Published
  • By Don Branum
  • Academy Spirit staff writer
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson and other senior leaders here spoke with Colorado Springs reporters March 14 to clarify the sequence of events surrounding a Bible passage written on a whiteboard within Cadet Squadron 21 on March 10.

Controversy, stemming from an incomplete understanding of events, resulted in questions from members of Congress to Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A Welsh III during a budget hearing before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington.

Johnson said the Academy aims for religious neutrality across the board.

"When we do that, people on both ends of the spectrum may take issue with us," she said. "It's a challenge we try to meet head-on in conversations with cadets and with our active-duty and civilian permanent party."

The chain of events started when a cadet within Cadet Squadron 21 here saw a reference to Galatians 2:20 posted on a squadron element leader's whiteboard. The whiteboards outside cadets' dormitory rooms are used for both official and personal communications.

"The cadets had recently had religious respect training, which might have been what made this a fresh item on people's minds," said Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Greg Lengyel.

The cadet contacted an Academy Military Trainer, who told the cadet squadron commander to make sure his squadron was "squared away," Lengyel said.

Discussions with the cadet chain of command explained why the passage had been posted and the nature of the complaint, Lengyel said. Afterward, the cadet took down the whiteboard and put it inside his dorm room.

"The AOC did not order him to take it down," the commandant said.

The Academy is a learning environment, and this discussion gives cadets a chance to talk about the balance between free expression and government endorsement of religion, Johnson said.
"This is an opportunity," she said. "This is a discussion about being respectful of other people's wishes. This is normal. ... This is the business of learning that we do here every day, to try to talk about issues like this."

In the House Armed Services Committee meeting, Welsh, who was commandant of cadets here from June 1999 to September 2001, summed up how he views the balancing act between free expression and endorsement of religious beliefs.

"The way I would explain this to Airmen is: You have every right to your beliefs and to practice your faith freely," Welsh said. "If someone asks you about your faith, tell them everything about it. If they don't ask you, don't assume they want or need to know."

Welsh dismissed assertions that Airmen's religious beliefs were being infringed.

"I know all kinds of people at the Air Force Academy ... who would disagree with your assessment of there being a problem of religious persecution at the Air Force Academy," Welsh said in response to a question from Rep. John Fleming (R-La.). "The single biggest frustration I've had on this job is the perception that somehow there is religious persecution inside the United States Air Force. It is not true. We have incidents like everybody has incidents. We investigate every one of them. We've asked every chaplain in our Air Force if they know of these cases; they say no."

Religious respect training at the Academy incorporates six hours within cadets' four years of training. Topics include balancing freedom of expression with government endorsement of religion, how to resolve conflicts or disparaging remarks, establishing policies to promote religious respect and how to accommodate subordinates' freedom of expression.

The Academy's chaplain corps illustrates the institute's commitment to diversity, Johnson said. The chaplain staff here includes Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Islamic chaplains as well as distinct faith group leaders from Buddhist and Earth-Centered faiths.