## Facts

- Indiana University held a university-wide commencement ceremony at its Bloomington campus football stadium, attended by approximately 30,000–35,000 people.
- All graduating students were invited, but attendance was voluntary and carried no penalty for nonattendance; about 5,000 students attended.
- A faculty-staff-student committee planned the commencement activities.
- The commencement program included secular elements (e.g., national anthem, speeches, conferral of degrees, university song) and also a nonsectarian invocation and benediction delivered by local clergy.
- University officials stated the prayers were not intended to sponsor or endorse religion, but to serve secular objectives by emphasizing the solemnity and dignity of the ceremony; the practice had a longstanding tradition.
- A law professor and students sued university officials seeking to enjoin the invocation and benediction as violating the Establishment Clause.
- The district court denied a preliminary injunction, denied plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion, and entered judgment for the defendants; plaintiffs appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether including a nonsectarian invocation and benediction in a public university commencement violates the Establishment Clause under purpose and effect/endorsement analysis.
2. Whether the commencement setting and social pressures to attend render the prayers unconstitutionally coercive under Establishment Clause doctrine.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed judgment for the defendants.
- The court held that the nonsectarian invocation and benediction at Indiana University’s voluntary commencement did not violate the Establishment Clause.
- The court found a secular purpose in solemnizing the ceremony and maintaining a ceremonial tradition.
- The court concluded the primary effect was not to advance or endorse religion, given the nonsectarian content and the predominantly secular program context.
- The court rejected an unconstitutional coercion theory, distinguishing primary/secondary school graduation prayer cases because attendees were adults and attendance was voluntary with no penalties for absence.
- The court found no excessive entanglement based on the limited involvement of inviting clergy for brief remarks at a single event.

## Legal Principles

- A ceremonial religious component at a public institution event may be constitutional if it serves a genuine secular purpose (e.g., solemnization) and does not have the primary effect of endorsing religion.
- Coercion analysis is sensitive to context; mature adults at a voluntary university ceremony are less susceptible to unconstitutional coercion than minors in school-controlled graduations.
- Limited, event-specific interaction with clergy for nonsectarian remarks does not necessarily create excessive government entanglement with religion.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Indiana University’s inclusion of a nonsectarian invocation and benediction at commencement because the practice served a secular ceremonial purpose, did not amount to governmental endorsement of religion in context, did not coerce adult attendees, and did not create excessive entanglement.


Tanford v. Brand, 104 F.3d 982 (7th Cir. 1997)