Opinion ID: 166214
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Decision to Retain the Statue

Text: 41 In the absence of evidence showing an awareness by the university of any possible anti-Catholic message at the time the statue was selected and placed on campus, appellants argue the university's failure to remove the statue after receiving complaints in itself constitutes an improper purpose. A defendant's failure to change its behavior in accordance with plaintiffs' demands, however, is not in itself proof of anti-religious intent. Bauchman, 132 F.3d at 556 (rejecting a similar argument as a `backdoor' attempt to substantiate an otherwise flawed constitutional claim). 42 Furthermore, there is no evidence in the record showing that the university's decision to retain the statue was based on improper motives. Instead, the evidence shows that the university chose to keep the statue for reasons unrelated to a disapproval of Catholicism. In the press release announcing his decision to retain the statue, President Farley explained that there was no solution that would satisfy everyone and that he wanted to take the opportunity to create a positive educational experience. The meeting minutes of the Board of Regents disclose that their decision was based on a desire to promote freedom of speech and to avoid academic censorship. The minutes of the Campus Beautification Committee show that they were motivated by similar concerns. Even though the university was certainly aware of the statue's perceived anti-Catholic message at the time it decided to retain the statue, there is no evidence that it agreed with or endorsed this interpretation of the statue. 43 The evidence also demonstrates that the decision not to move the statue to a less prominent location on campus was not motivated by an anti-Catholic bias. The Campus Beautification Committee discussed the possibility of moving the statue to the campus art museum, but was told there was no room in the museum to accommodate the statue. Washburn's vice-president of academic affairs testified that he also considered moving the statue but was told by complaining parties that nothing short of complete removal from campus would be acceptable. There is no countervailing evidence in the record indicating that the decision not to move the statue was made for illegitimate reasons. 44 After a thorough review of the record, this court concludes that appellants have presented no evidence in support of their view that Washburn selected or displayed the statue with the purpose of denigrating the Catholic religion. As in Lynch, the evidence in this case is simply insufficient to establish that the [display] is a purposeful or surreptitious effort to express some kind of subtle governmental advocacy of a particular religious message. 465 U.S. at 680, 104 S.Ct. 1355.