A New Jersey high school with a 70-year tradition of hosting graduation
ceremonies in a historic auditorium is standing firm against legal
threats from the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims the event
violates the separation of church and state because of the
Christian-owned site's religious displays.
For generations, graduates of Neptune High School have walked down the
aisle of the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, where the impressive
6,500-seat venue dominates the landscape of one of the area's most
historic beach towns. Built in 1894, the auditorium is owned and
operated by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist group
that owns not just the building, but all of the land beneath every home
and structure in town.
The ACLU of New Jersey threatened legal action against the Neptune
school district after an attendee at last year's graduation ceremony
took offense to the building's religious symbols and Christian-based
references -- among them a 20-foot white cross above the auditorium's
entrance. The ACLU asked the school to remove or cover up the cross and
three other religious signs, arguing their visibility during a public
school event is a First Amendment violation.
School officials responded by agreeing to change the graduation program
to remove the student-led invocation and two hymns -- one titled "Onward
Christian Soldiers" -- to rid the ceremony of any religious references.
"The program was not of a religious nature -- it was more tradition than
anything else," said Neptune Public Schools Superintendent David Mooij.
"But we decided we would change the program and delete the things this
individual found offensive."
Removing or covering up the cross was another matter. The Camp
Association said it could not cover the cross, said to have been a gift
from movie director Woody Allen, who used the auditorium during shooting
for the 1980 film "Stardust Memories." Nor would they cover up the two
illuminated indoor signs – "Holiest to the Lord" and "So Be Ye Holy" –
which are said to be the oldest operating electric signs in America.
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