Wichita ? College recruiters from Washburn University may return to the city’s public schools.

Upset by the depiction of a Catholic clergyman in a sculpture displayed at the Topeka university, the Wichita school board voted 4-3 last month to ban recruiters from Washburn. The city’s Catholic high schools already had banned Washburn recruiters.

Board president Michael Kinard asked the school board Monday night to reconsider the ban and apologized for the way it was adopted during a Feb. 23 meeting. The question was not listed on the meeting’s agenda.

Kinard then provided the swing vote in a 4-3 decision to overturn the ban he supported two weeks ago.

“Art is an expression of the artist, and by design, it is to evoke emotion and make you think,” Kinard said.

The sculpture, titled “Holier Than Thou,” depicts the bust of a scowling, heavyset clergyman wearing a ceremonial hat. Some observers think the miter looks like a penis and that the statue insults Catholics.

The work, by Longmont, Colo., artist Jerry Boyle, has been displayed on the campus since September as part of a collection of outdoor sculptures. It is scheduled to be removed in July.

Board member Lynn Rogers, who is not Catholic, voted to uphold the ban. He said he also was disappointed by the slurs and insults he has heard because of his vote.

“I have been called a Nazi, a neo-Nazi and a member of the Taliban because of my vote,” Rogers said.

Washburn officials refused to remove the statue because they say they are preserving free expression on their campus.