Some years ago a committee was called together to discuss the celebration of holidays on campus. There was a concern from some campus members that the university needed to be mindful of the separation of church and state.

The AA Office has a book called, Religion in the Workplace: A Comprehensive Guide to Legal Rights and Responsibilities that is available in our lending library.

The right to *practice* one's religion is protected. The lines to be aware of include when the activities are seen as:

1. government agencies practicing one particular religion. The Establishment clause says that the government will not establish a religion, so examples like spending public money on one particular religion's symbols and effects would not be appropriate. One can have religious items at one's own private work space, but having them in common areas, like hallways and entries, are generally not advised.
2. pressuring or coercing religious recruitment in the work place. Generally this is when there is an imbalance of power (like a person of higher rank or the overwhelming majority of the population) puts undue emphasis on one religion over all others.

The committee was interested in how we can make our campus as inclusive as possible. So, none of the recommendations were designed to stamp out Christmas as we know it. The recommendations are listed below. Generally we wanted a celebration of celebrations. If the articles are used to educate about the different religious and cultural holidays that would be appropriate. It is consistent with the Michigan Tech mission.

1. A one night "kick off" event for a year long set of celebrations. This is essentially what International Programs Services (IPS) is doing on December 11 with "Holidays Around the World 2006."
2. Seasonal updates on a web page. (See http://www.ips.mtu.edu/. It will be up and live very soon.)
3. A presidential message about celebrations will be issued to the whole community.
4. Decorations will be placed on display boards in the Library. This is a way to learn about how others celebrate their holidays and it will help people feel welcome and appreciated in the MTU community. These boards will be displayed in the MBU and then returned to the Library for the rest of the Holiday season.
5. MUB menus will include holiday treats from many seasonal celebrations.
6. When decorating public areas, we should be conscious of recognizing all of the holidays of the season.

Now, about Christmas Trees. These are beautiful and can carry many meanings. Some info about their history can be found at: Christmas Trees. It is interesting. If you scroll down to the sections on "History" and "Controversy" we might learn a lot about how people feel about them and what they mean. Many feel they are both religious and cultural, depending on the view and the heart of the person looking at them.