In Las Vegas, Nevada, officials of the Clark County School District are defending the action taken by administrators at Foothill High School’s graduation ceremony Thursday when the class valedictorian departed from her prepared speech that had been approved by administrators and began reading from a version that contained religious and Biblical references. Administrators cut off the microphone. This drew jeers from the audience in attendance at the graduation being held in a Las Vegas casino. Today's Las Vegas Sun reports on the events.
Administrators had earlier reviewed Brittany McComb’s speech and cut out six references to God or Christ, two biblical references, and a detailed reference to Christ’s crucifixion. The high school’s policy does not permit the school to censor religious references by speakers who have been chosen "on the basis of genuinely neutral, evenhanded criteria'. However, school district lawyer Bill Hoffman said that while the regulation allows students to talk about religion, they cannot cross over into the realm of preaching or proselytizing. School officials said that permitting McComb to continue would have amounted to school sponsored proselytizing. McComb responded: "People aren't stupid and they know we have freedom of speech and the district wasn't advocating my ideas. Those are my opinions. It's what I believe.'
