There are several interpretations of the meaning of the seal, the chancellor said, and all involve the student or scholar questing after knowledge.
And one letter begat another, which may beget a third.
So goes the Kansas University correspondence with the campus chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union over the constitutionality of the university seal.
Eighteen days ago, the KU ACLU wrote a letter to Chancellor Robert Hemenway asking him to justify the KU seal, which depicts Moses kneeling before a burning bush and includes a quote in Latin from the book of Exodus describing Moses' decision to look upon the burning bush.
The ACLU contends the depiction of a religious scene and the quotation may violate a constitutional ban on government establishing religion.
Monday, Hemenway replied in a two-page letter on stationery that does not bear the seal.
In the letter, Hemenway reviews the history of the seal and various explanations of it.
"Historical accounts of what the seal depicts range from the comic (that the bush represents Kansas, ever scorched by heat and drought, yet not destroyed) to the more serious (that the seal depicts the accumulated thought of mankind voiced at a university, or that the figure of Moses with bare feet was a symbol of the spirit of Kansas youths who, used to poverty, with dauntless ambition seek out the university as a seat of learning even though they must come without shoes)," Hemenway wrote.
"There is no single interpretation of the meaning of the seal; however there is a common theme in various interpretations," he wrote. "The design, together with the Latin phrase, connotes the student or scholar questing after knowledge, central to the mission of a university."
But his response was not all tongue-in-cheek.
Hemenway also wrote that University Counsel Victoria Thomas has advised him the seal would pass the reasonable person tests laid down by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court for determing whether a phrase like "In God we trust" constitutes an attempt by government to establish a religion in violation of the First Amendment.
The courts, Hemenway wrote, have judged seals and symbols based on their individual histories and contexts to decide whether a reasonable person would conclude the seal is intended to promote a religion.
"Even if an observer of the University of Kansas seal recognized the depiction of Moses before a burning bush, even if the observer can translate the Latin phrase, that observer, aware of the purpose, context and history of the development of the seal could not reasonably consider its use to be an endorsement of religion by the University of Kansas," Hemenway wrote.
KU ACLU President Kevin Sivits said the chapter would review Hemenway's letter, discuss it with the Kansas-Western Missouri ACLU chapter and reply to the chancellor in about a week's time with another letter.
Sivits said the chapter has received several questions about the seal as the ACLU has questioned the depiction of a figure central to three world religions on identification cards, business cards and diplomas.
Moses is an important figure in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
"I think we could argue those are all Western religions," he said. "We're not supposed to be promoting the Western standard of religion."
Questions about the university's seal come two months after a decision by the city of Republic, Mo., to remove a Christian fish symbol from its seal. The city ended an 18-month legal battle involving the ACLU on behalf of a former resident.
Dick Kurtenbach, executive director of the ACLU's Kansas and western Missouri chapter, with which the university chapter is affiliated, said the next step next step would be to consult with another national group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He said if the ACLU wanted to file a lawsuit, it would have to do so on behalf of someone -- probably a student or university employee -- who can show use of the seal caused a legal injury.
-- Erwin Seba's phone message number is 832-7145. His e-mail address is eseba@ljworld.com.
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