Prayer, Presidents, and Public Education or The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same

(WARNING: This post may offend you. But we figure if you're reading our blog you already know this about us and are willing to be offended by us once in a while, just like we're willing to be offended by you once in a while. But seriously, if we weren't going to complain about this most of you would start to wonder what had happened to us. Had we been abducted by aliens? or worse, converted to fundamentalist protestantism? Had the south managed to take away the part of us that makes "exciting" to have around? Rest assured, Sarah and Phil are still the cynical, critical pair we've always been. So, read on.)

There have been quite a few changes down here in Starkville lately. Some of these changes have been good in our eyes. For instance, Sunday alcohol sales just became legal (woo hoo!) so now we can go to the one bar in town on Sundays as well as every other day of the week. Just kidding… one bar, C'mon this is the south. There are at least 5 or 6 that we're not afraid to go into. We’s also gots us a new mayor (a former Tar Heel!) who is younger than us and promises to improve town-gown relations. He wears bow-ties and seersucker suits--what's not to like about that? And, Starkville even started curbside recycling. You do have to live in town and not in University housing so it doesn’t apply to us, but we still like it.

The other big change is that Sarah’s employer, Mississippi State University, just installed a new president. Dr. Keenum is buddy-buddy with all the powerful white guys in this state and some of the national powerful white guys too. His star shines bright in Starkville and MSU. His investiture was a few weeks ago (full disclosure: Sarah played hooky and did not attend citing her lack of official regalia; Phil was obviously off the hook professionally and wisely thought his time would be better spent picking lint out of his belly button). Just as we were starting to get comfortable in our new surroundings Mississippi decided to smack us in the face with a big "you're not from around here." The official university event, paid for with taxpayer dough, since this is a state run institution, started with a prayer service at which the university choirs sang. Then there was a prayer to start off the investiture ceremony and then our dear Dr. Keenum ended his speech like this:

“With your help and with God's blessing, Mississippi State University will open a new chapter of service, leadership, and excellence, and will build on its long and proud history of contributions to our state to help usher Mississippi into a new era of prosperity and a future filled with promise.
Thank you, and may God bless you.”

He then followed this with a thank you email to the faculty and said that "The prayer service, reception, and investiture ceremony itself presented the university to the public in an outstanding way..."

Really? Using our money for a church service doesn't seem like outstanding presentation.

(Although it’s not really relevant, these prayers were not “non-denominational.” They were strictly Christian and apparently Jesus played a prominent role.)

It’s hard to articulate what is more frustrating—that prayer, god, and Jesus played such a large role in this supposedly non-religious institution’s event or that few people seemed troubled or concerned about it. While a few of Sarah’s colleagues grumbled and talked about contacting the ACLU there was no outcry from the community (university or otherwise). There wasn’t even an out-peep.

We were prepared for people to ask us questions about where we go to church and what we’re doing for Christmas. We even practiced inoffensive responses. We were also prepared for nothing to be open on Sundays. We probably were even ready for high school football teams to pray before the start of Friday night games (we have avoided these games so far and have no idea if this actually happens). But, deep down, we had hopes for the university community. We had “faith” that individuals’ faith wouldn’t intrude on academic life.

So, it looks this is one stereotype of Mississippi that we aren't able to shoot down.

And now for something completely different, here is a picture of wild flowers and a bug from our farm: