On Friday, in the name of Christian unity, The Salt Company and other campus groups put on a festival called 1. This event was a part of the “This is Your April” series, sponsored by Leaders INspiring Connections and the Student Union Board and underwritten by the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs. Some controversy ensued, with Catholics and other mainstream Protestants expressing their dismay over being excluded from the planning process of an event that ostensibly was designed to support them. Less was said about the questions of the university financially supporting one religion over others. Both of these concerns are valid.

Though The Salt Company is the largest Christian group on campus, many Christians do not feel it accurately represents their views. It is affiliated with Cornerstone Church, which has a connection to the Southern Baptist convention, and advocates a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible. The size of the group clearly shows these beliefs have support among the student body. But other views also have support, and the groups representing those views were not brought into the process. Catholics, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists and other churches have a significant student presence and were not adequately involved by the organizing groups, given the idea behind the festival.

The other question is whether it is appropriate for the university to fund an overtly religious celebration for one particular religion. In this case, the funding was assigned through an application process, with only one group proposing a religious celebration. The application process, however, was started in March, making it so few groups would have the time to be able to prepare a significant event for April. Some early confusion in the funding led to this delayed process. It would have behooved the university to try to reach out to other groups with differing views given the controversy, but the oversight is understandable.

We hope that, with LINC receiving Government of the Student Body funding and thus potentially continuing some of these activities, a more thorough approach can be taken in making groups aware of funding opportunities. We also hope other religious (or non-religious) groups will make it a point in the future to take advantage of these opportunities. Despite this one controversy, “Your April” has been a great success. Next year’s Veishea committee would do well to incorporate some of its events and practices for future events.