In his September 9 column, David Harsanyi of The Denver Post condemned last year's decision by officials of a Colorado Springs-area high school to withhold a graduating senior's diploma until she issued an apology for using her commencement speech to proselytize her religion. However, Harsanyi omitted several critical details related to the controversy, including that the former student, Erica Corder, in encouraging the graduation crowd “to find out more about the sacrifice [Jesus] made for you,” purposefully departed from her remarks that the school had pre-approved and that she delivered during rehearsals, which did not include her comments about religion.

Harsanyi also heavily quoted Mathew Staver, “the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, an organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom,” as contending that the school wrongly abridged Corder's “protected speech,” but never disclosed that Liberty Counsel is representing Corder in her federal civil suit against the Lewis-Palmer School District.

From David Harsanyi's September 9 Denver Post column, “Student spoke up, school let her down”:

If I were Erica Corder, I'd have two words for school officials at Lewis-Palmer High School.

And I can assure you, Jesus would not approve.

[...]

Corder was one of 15 valedictorians at Lewis-Palmer High School in 2006, all of whom were invited to speak for 30 seconds at a graduation ceremony. When it was Corder's turn, she decided to introduce her audience to a celebrity.

“His name is Jesus Christ,” she said. “If you don't already know him personally, I encourage you to find out more about the sacrifice he made for you.”

This, according to Corder, provoked the principal to deny Erica her diploma until she apologized via e-mail to the entire class for her proselytizing. She did so fearing a delay would hurt her college admissions.

Well, I'm not convinced ... nor am I offended. What does offend me is a student being forced to apologize for having an opinion.

Since school officials aren't talking, let me, momentarily, play devil's advocate -- quite literally, I'm afraid -- in this whole Jesus-speech mess.

Isn't a school entitled to dictate which topics are touched upon at a graduation?

Not exactly, contends Mathew Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, an organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom.

“A school does not have to give a platform to any student,” he explains. “But there are certain students, because of the nature of graduation, that have been given a platform ... they can speak to issues that are important to them -- within certain parameters -- without censorship.”

The school put Corder on a platform. She said nothing defamatory or crude, only a remark about religion, and that, Staver says, is protected speech.

“Colorado has laws dealing with this,” he explains. “Schools may not put prior restraint on student speech other than if it is libelous or slanderous or vulgar or lewd. But otherwise, state law says schools are prohibited from censorship of students.”

Which brings me to another aspect of this case: What right does a school have to withhold a diploma from a valedictorian?

Hadn't Corder earned her diploma through hard work via four years in high school? She would have earned this diploma even without appearing at her graduation.

“She earned it and it's hers,” Staver says. “Yet they still forced her, essentially, to send a coerced apology to the entire school. It's both overreaction and shocking. And yet she tried to work it out with the school and they wouldn't hear it.”

Now, in essence, Corder wants an apology. But legal arguments, aside, here's a crazy thought: Why not encourage high school students to voice their opinions?

One can't help wonder what kind of national reaction Corder would have gotten had she said, “End the Iraq war!”

What I do know, whether it's about Iraq or Jesus, whether we agree with them or not, we should be defending students' right to speak out on issues and their beliefs rather than punishing them.

According to an August 31 article in the Rocky Mountain News, Corder has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the school “violated her rights to free speech and equal protection.” However, Harsanyi failed to note that, according to news media reports, Corder departed from her pre-approved remarks at the event in order to deliver the religious message. According to the News, in her 2006 commencement address Corder “deviat[ed] from the 30-second speech that had been approved by the principal [when] she began speaking about 'someone who loves you more than you could ever imagine,' ” recommending to the crowd that '[i]f you don't already know Him personally I encourage you to find out more about the sacrifice [Jesus] made for you.' "

As the News noted, Corder “took heat from school officials for deviating from the pre-approved script,” and "[b]efore she was granted her diploma, [she] was required to apologize in an e-mail to the entire school community." The Associated Press likewise noted in an August 30 piece on the controversy, “Corder's speech had encouraged listeners to get to know Jesus Christ. Corder had not included those remarks during rehearsals.”

Harsanyi also omitted that Corder reportedly has acknowledged that her remarks were preconceived, and that she purposefully veiled her intent to advance her religious views from school authorities, fearing that she would be told to omit those remarks. The News reported that Corder “knew she wanted to honor God in her remarks, but she didn't do so in her practice speech because she knew there was a chance [Principle] Brewer would prohibit the comments, and because she didn't think there would be enough time to work through the issue with him.”

As The Gazette of Colorado Springs noted in a June 10, 2006, article, Corder “knew for months that she would use her high school commencement speech to evangelize. But she didn't tell anyone.” According to The Gazette:

Corder, 18, was among 15 Lewis-Palmer valedictorians this year. The students cowrote a speech giving each valedictorian 30 seconds. They rehearsed it before Principal Mark Brewer before graduation.

Corder was to conclude the joint speech.

Unknown to Brewer and the other student, Corder planned to use her time to profess her faith. She prayed about it for months, she said, and believed God called her to speak out.

Moreover, while Harsanyi presented Liberty Counsel's Staver as an expert on the advancement of “religious freedom,” he failed to note that the organization was serving as Corder's legal counsel in the federal lawsuit. As the AP reported, “Corder's attorneys are affiliated with Liberty Counsel, a group that says it is dedicated to advancing religious freedom.” The News likewise reported:

Corder is being represented by attorneys from Virginia-based Liberty Counsel, a law firm that specializes in religious issues. The firm is associated with the Liberty University School of Law, part of the university founded by the late minister and televangelist Jerry Falwell.

Harsanyi also did not disclose, as the News did, that Corder's father is employed by Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs-based organization that widely promotes a conservative Christian political agenda. The News noted that Steve Corder works for Focus on the Family after quoting him as stating, “We don't want future speakers to run into the same thing.”