A North Carolina high school valedictorian thanked God and proclaimed his faith in Christ during his speech last weekend, according to a legal firm that urged him to push back against attempts by his school district to scrub or amend references to Christianity.
In a statement Tuesday, the religious liberty legal group Liberty Counsel announced that a valedictorian gave an “unaltered” graduation speech at an unnamed North Carolina high school that included multiple references to his Christian faith despite the district’s attempts to remove them.
In one portion of his address, the valedictorian declared, “I want to thank my Lord Jesus Christ for getting me through because if it weren’t for Him, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through life.”
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“Jesus Christ has always loved me,” the valedictorian added.
A redacted letter the legal group sent the student, published Thursday, advised him of his constitutional rights and provided additional information about school administrators’ concerns about the “separation of church and state.”
The letter included screenshots outlining alleged changes school administrators wanted the valedictorian to make to the speech. The administrators wanted to replace the sentence giving thanks to Jesus Christ with a statement proclaiming, “Without my faith, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through life.” The student was also advised to say, “He has always loved me” instead of “Jesus Christ loved me.”
The student had previously decided not to make the requested changes to his speech after engaging in discussions with Liberty Counsel, and the school district allowed him to include all references to his faith in the address.
“Liberty Counsel appreciates your respectful approach to correcting the administrators’ errors, and we are pleased that the administrators have at this time relented and have stated they will allow your uncensored Speech,” the letter stated.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement that the “valedictorian’s respectful approach” resulted in an “uncensored, faith-filled graduation speech.”
“Voluntary references to God or Jesus Christ in a graduation speech are all protected by the First Amendment and may not be censored by school officials,” Staver wrote.
Liberty Counsel refuted the premise that students referring to their Christian faith in a high school graduation speech violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits a government establishment of religion.
The group contends that U.S. Supreme Court cases in recent years “have conclusively held that the Establishment Clause does not permit censorship of private religious speech. Such attempts are improper and violate the First Amendment.”
Among the cases cited were the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in favor of a group that wanted to fly a Christian flag at Boston City Hall and the court’s 2022 ruling in favor of a Washington state high school coach punished for praying on the field after football games.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has held that private speech is protected; it is only government speech endorsing religion that is prohibited by the Establishment Clause,” the letter insisted. “Private religious speech is not a ‘First Amendment orphan’ but is ‘as fully protected under the Free Speech Clause as secular private expression.'”
Liberty Counsel elaborated on additional aspects of the speech, noting how “the valedictorian spoke about the adversity he had faced due to several medical conditions, one of them life threatening” and “the speech also gave appropriate credit to his parents, teachers, as well as challenged his classmates to be a good influence in the lives of other people.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
