A private group that helps recruit and endorse military chaplains arrived Tuesday at the Air Force Academy to conduct an outside review of the school’s religious climate, adding another layer of scrutiny to the latest challenge facing the elite school.
The visit by a five-member team from the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces is meant to complement an internal task force review conducted in early May, said Johnny Whitaker, academy spokesman.
The outside team was formed at the request of the secretary of the Air Force and the academy chief of staff, Whitaker said. The group will interview cadets, staff, faculty and senior leadership through Thursday.
“The thinking behind this outside review is essential to ensure that the academy’s environment is one in which anyone can believe or not believe the way they choose, and one in which everyone respects everyone else’s right to believe,” Whitaker said.
The academy’s religious climate has been scrutinized this year after faculty and cadets suggested that Christian cadets get preferential treatment. An Americans United for Separation of Church and State report in April said the academy can be hostile place for non-Christians.
Whitaker said it was unclear whether the outside group’s findings would be presented separately or incorporated into a report detailing the internal review expected this month.
The National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces is a Springfield, Va., nonprofit claiming Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Buddhist and Islamic representation. The group certifies religious institutions seeking to nominate clergy for chaplaincy.
Conference officials could not be reached for comment.
Also Tuesday, Air Force officials said a former academy cadet commander did not violate the U.S. Constitution or any military policies when he e-mailed classmates 300 quotations, including 30 that either mentioned God or quoted the Bible.
Nicholas Jurewicz, now a second lieutenant, graduated with academic, military and athletic distinction a week ago. Before he left the academy, he sent a farewell message to 3,000 freshman, sophomore and junior cadets.
Jurewicz’s e-mail was a compilation of quotes that he collected during his four years at the academy. He quoted war heroes, politicians, authors, poets, religious figures and the Bible. Among those quoted: Mother Teresa, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Martin Luther King and Pink Floyd.
“The legal review determined that there was no attempt to convince any of the recipients of the intrinsic value of any one quote or quote source,” academy officials said in a release.
The academy also determined that Jurewicz’s use of e-mail was proper because he acted within the authority of his position as cadet wing commander. He could not be reached for comment.
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-820-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
