Miami University now denies that a proposal from the comparative religion department to invite the Westboro Baptist Church to campus has been fully approved by Phyllis Callahan, Dean of the College of Arts and Science.
Comparative religion professor Liz Wilson told The Miami Student the proposal had been approved by Callahan on Monday, but Miami director of news and public information Claire Wagner told The Miami Student late Tuesday afternoon that the statement from Wilson was “errant.” Wagner said the proposal is still under review.
“That’s a mistake on the university side,” Wagner said. “There is a proposal, but it is still in flux, still in discussion.”
An e-mail sent by a reporter to Callahan Monday evening seeking further comment included a statement saying The Miami Student had been told she had approved the proposal.
A two-sentence e-mailed reply from Callahan did not give any clear indication that the proposal had not been approved.
“I am waiting for some more information from faculty in the Department of Comparative Religion. I will contact you after I get that information,” Callahan said via e-mail.
Miami’s administration is also trying to distance itself from the proposal, stressing the difference between a visit initiated by a university faculty member and a “university sponsored” event.
Lisa Dankovich, associate director of external communications for Miami, said the protocol for approving a university sponsored event involves different levels of administrative oversight.
“If it is sponsored by the university, a contract goes through [VP of Finance] David Creamer’s office, and is vetted by the general counsel,” Dankovich said. “In this situation, you’ve got a faculty member and those contracts do not resonate to the same levels.”
Wilson told The Miami Student Monday evening the proposal had made it as far as Callahan, who would have then notified Miami Provost Bobby Gempesaw, according to Wilson.
Since the proposal stipulated no university funds would be spent on the visit, it is unclear whether any financial contracts would have been involved.
In a statement released on Miami’s news and public information website, Miami President David Hodge said the university does not intend to endorse or give voice to the views of the Westboro Baptist Church.
“I want to make it perfectly clear, that this is a group whose focus on hatred and personal destruction is aberrant to the values we strive to instill at Miami. The attempt to study their actions in the classroom should not be misunderstood as condoning or accepting their hate-filled rhetoric,” said David Hodge, president of Miami University.
Sam Kay and Amanda Seitz are reporters for the Miami Student.
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