ith summer high school graduation ceremonies looming, school districts across the country face an important question: should they organize or promote baccalaureate services? "Mention baccalaureate and most high school principals will have to dig deep into their memories to recall the services of hymns, worship and sermons," notes today's issue of the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. There is evidence, though, that baccalaureate services are making a comeback, fueled in part with the desire by faith and other community groups to infuse religion into the secular ceremonial aura of graduation ceremonies.

    Baccalaureates were once an institution in American culture; they usually took place prior to official school graduation ceremonies, often in a church. They were frequently mandatory for students, and included sermons, prayers, choir singing and inspirational "messages" laced with overt religious themes.

    That began to change, though, in the early 1960s. First, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down government-composed prayer in the 1962 ENGEL v. VITALE case. That meant that school boards or other government officials could not be working with religious groups to invent a "nondenominational" prayer which students would recite or be subjected to. Coercive prayer and bible verse recitation officially remained in the schools, though, until 1963, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the practices in a decision which combined MURRAY v. CURLETT with ABINGTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT v. SCHEMPP.

    That was the death blow -- at least in the law books -- to "official" prayer, unison bible verse reading, sermonizing and other religious rituals in the public schools. Resistance to the ruling continued throughout the country, but gradually those practices were eroded. So was the tradition of the baccalaureate. Along with legal strictures that limited how far school and community officials could go in organizing baccalaureate events, there was also the fact that, as noted by the Dispatch newspaper, "kids stopped coming." Prayer and devotional readings continued in isolated cases, and often stopped only after school officials were threatened with legal action, or actually challenged with a suit.

    There is growing evidence, though, that the baccalaureate ceremony may be making a comeback, encouraged partly by faith-based groups seeking to add a religious component to the secular rite of passage known as graduation. It is a trend that puts schools in the awkward position of possibly encouraging religious observance, and it could end up eroding protections of students and parents who may feel pressured into practices contrary to their own convictions.

   As with any other faith-based activity, public schools are legally restrained from promoting baccalaureate services which have a religious component. They may not spend money on such exercises, or give the appearance of actively endorsing or promoting the event. Teachers and school officials may not pressure students into attending a baccalaureate service, nor can they punish students who refuse to participate.

"Baccalaureate services are making a comeback, fueled in part with the desire by faith and other community groups to infuse religion into the secular ceremonial aura of graduation ceremonies..."

    Most baccalaureates take place off campus in a neighborhood church or hall. Public schools may not "donate" auditoriums or other facilities for the baccalaureate; a school hall may be rented, although such an action could face court review by a plaintiff who argues that the proximity of the baccalaureate service gives the appearance of official school endorsement.

    School officials should not be promoting the baccalaureate, or in any way attempting to encourage the perception that it is an "official" activity sanctioned by a school district. There is a legal "gray area," though. In Lockhard, Texas for instance, the local high school web site was used to promote the 1998 baccalaureate service held at a local Methodist Church. Addresses were delivered by two ministers, and the "school official" was identified as the principal.

   Atheist and separationist parents, and students, cannot be compelled to support or attend religious baccalaureate events. Nor should public resources be used to expended; this includes promotional announcements or the use of monies or physical facilities. Groups may attempt to promote the baccalaureate as an "official" event; but they are clearly an activity where those who do not wish to attend cannot and should not be required to do so.

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