Non-denominational prayer at NIU graduation is legal as long as it follows a few guidelines.

However, NIU officials must now wrestle with how participants might react to it.

“If the prayer’s primary purpose is not religious and it doesn’t have the effect of advancing religion, then it’s OK,” said University Legal Counsel George Shur.

“Remarks by a religious teacher or leader of any denomination are appropriate so long as they are carefully crafted so as not to reflect any individual religion,” he said.

Now the issue goes to Provost Kendall Baker’s office, where he and other university officials must decide if NIU should keep the prayer. Graduation prayer has been at NIU since the school’s beginning, Shur said.

“I do not think it will be a prolonged or protracted discussion,” Baker said. He was not able to predict when a final decision would be made.

NIU must “respect the rights of those offended by prayer” in making the decison, Shur said.

Shur said past court cases do not make NIU immune to legal problems. Although there are no cases involving prayer and colleges, the U.S. Supreme Court is growing more conservative and some believe more ready to hear such a case, Shur said.

“Nobody could predict with any degree of assurance what a Supreme Court might do with a collegiate case,” he said.

Although NIU knows it legally can have the prayer, there are still questions on why the questions popped up at the Commencement Committee in the first place.

Committee chairman Lea Houdek said the committee does not have the power to make a decision on the issue.

Committee member Bruce Kremer said he brought the issue to the committee’s attention because “it seemed to be a logical place to initiate discussion because it (the committee) is in charge of planning the ceremony.”

At the committee’s last meeting, Kremer expressed his concern with presenting religion in a ceremony conducted by a state-funded university. He also said that by including the prayers in the ceremony during a year officially declared a year of “unity in diversity,” it “fails to accomplish our goal.”

A non-denominational prayer is given before and after the graduation ceremony. Nobody has publicly complained about the prayers.

Aside from his feelings that the inclusion of the prayers “should not continue,” Kremer said his recommendation was not based on personal beliefs.

“I don’t have an ax to grind and I would not be particularly hard-nosed if the final decision were to keep the prayers,” he said.

Kremer added, “I think that a lot of people on campus would be surprised to find out that I’m not an atheist. I’m not anti-religious,” he said.

The matter was reviewed by the Council of Deans on Wednesday and a meeting with representatives of the student body is expected soon. Baker said he assumes student representatives for the talks will come from the Student Association.