LehighNow Volume 02, Issue 07

              LEHIGHNOW
December 19,2001
Volume 2, Issue 7
First amendment expert
addresses religious freedoms
IN BRIEF
ON THE FIELD
Lehigh falls in
playoff bid
Lehigh's bid for a berth in
the NCAA football
semifinals fell short, as
the Mountain Hawks were |
defeated by Furman
University, 34-17, on Dec.
8 in Greenville, S.C.
Though the loss ended
Lehigh's season with an
11-1 record, the team is
well- positioned to earn
the Meadowlands
Lambert Cup trophy as
the top football team in
the East. Lehigh went 10-01
during the regular season
and defeated Hofstra
University in overtime in
the first round of the
NCAA playoffs at
Lehigh's Goodman
Stadium. The historic
Lambert Cup will be
awarded in late December.
Furman 's vaunted
rushing attack was the
key to its success over the
visiting Mountain Hawks,
and Lehigh's nationally-
ranked defense was tested |
as it hadn't been during
the regular season. The
Paladins rushed for 332
yards, 128 of them by
backup Toreico O'Neal,
who also scored two
touchdowns.
"We ran into a very
good and deep Furman
team today," Lehigh head I
coach Pete Lembo said
following the loss.
"Furman is traditionally
one of the top programs inl
Division I-AA and we
Please see FALLS page 4
Since the terrorist attacks
on New York City and
Washington, D.C., of Sept.
11, Americans "seem to
have decided that religion
and patriotism are
identical," a nationally
renowned First Amendment advocate said in an
afternoon visit Dec. 4 with
Lehigh students.
"The separation of
church and state is now
seen as anti-American,"
Barry Lynn, executive
director of Americans
United for Separation of
Church and State, said in
an informal meeting at
Lehigh's new Humanities
Center.
Lynn, a native of
Bethlehem and an ordained
minister in the United
Church of Christ, also gave
a talk on "Protecting
Religious Freedom in a
Time of Crisis: A Post-
Sept. 11 Evaluation of the
First Amendment" on the
evening of Dec. 4 in
Lehigh's Sinclair Auditorium.
Lynn cited two recent
instances in which, he said,
Congress had blurred the
boundary between church
and state.
The first was Congress'
recent passage of a non-
binding resolution to allow
public schools to schedule
a moment of silence for
students to pray for
victims of the Sept. 11
attacks. The second was
holding a two-hour
interfaith prayer gathering
in the Capitol Rotunda that
was open only to members
of the U.S. Senate and
House of Representatives,
President Bush and the
justices of the U.S. Supreme
Court.
House Majority Whip
Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who
promoted the event, was
reported in USA Today as
saying the event was
intended to encourage
"willing" officials to take
part "in keeping and [in]
practice with their own
personal faith, judgment and
beliefs ... to gather and
petition God for his blessings,
stewardship and forgiveness."
Lynn said Delay "seems
to want to be forgiven for our
[secular] Constitution.
"Keeping a decent distance
between government and
religion is best for both,"
Lynn told students. "Religion
works best when it is not
hindered by government, and
when it does not expect
support from government."
Lynn's informal talk and
his speech were both
sponsored by the Humanities
Center and Lehigh's
chaplain's office. The
Humanities Center, which is
run by Lehigh's department
of philosophy through the
College of Arts and Sciences,
offers a place for students
and faculty from the
humanities and other
disciplines to come together
to discuss ideas.
Lynn, a 1966 graduate of
Bethlehem's Liberty High
School, has also held
positions with the Washington, D.C., office of the
American Civil Liberties
Union and the national
offices of the United Church
of Christ.
Karen L. Stuckey
PWC partner,
trustee to deliver
commencement
address
Karen L. Stuckey, a partner
at PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP, New York, and a
member of the Lehigh
University Board of Trustees,
will deliver the winter
commencement address at
Lehigh on January 13, 2002.
"Karen Stuckey exemplifies Lehigh's strength in
preparing leaders for careers
and life," said Lehigh
President Gregory C.
Farrington, in making the
announcement. "Not only is
she a very successful
businesswoman, she also
has done much to give back
to her alma mater and her
community. I know her
words will resonate with our
new graduates."
Stuckey has been a
member of the Lehigh board
since 1992. Prior to that, she
served as national president
of the Lehigh University
Alumni Association. She
also served as treasurer and
director-at-large of the
association. In 1990, she
received the association's
alumni award, the highest
Please seeADDPESS
page 3