College FootBaths Spark BackLash

DEARBORN -- The University of Michigan-Dearborn plans to spend $25,000 for foot-washing stations, making it easier for Muslim students to practice their religion but sparking questions about the separation of church and state.

The university claims the stations are needed to accommodate Muslim students, who must ritually wash their bodies -- including the feet -- up to five times each day before prayers. But critics hit conservative blogs and radio airwaves Monday to argue public money shouldn't cover the cost.

"Technically, they've got a problem, because it's public money they're using to pay for this," said Hal Downs, president of the Michigan chapter of Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"It's one of those issues that we're going to be facing more and more in this community."

The issue may push hot buttons in Metro Detroit -- home to as many as 250,000 Muslims -- but in nearby Ypsilanti, no one raised objections when Eastern Michigan University included a private bathroom with a foot-washing area in a new student union that opened in November, said Glenna Frank Miller, its director.

U-M Dearborn will include the floor-level stations at two bathrooms to be constructed in August at the University Center and Fairlane Center buildings, said Terry Gallagher, spokesman for the university. The units are necessary because some students resorted to washing their feet in sinks.

The university of 8,600 students doesn't track them by religion, Gallagher said.

"This was a reasonable accommodation," he said.

Gallagher argued taxpayer money won't be used for the foot baths because the $100,000 total bill for the bathrooms is underwritten by a fee students pay for building maintenance.

But Downs countered the move appears to violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits governments from favoring religions or subsidizing them.

The Detroit chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union isn't getting involved, arguing the foot baths are secular since non-Muslims could use them, said spokeswoman Rana Elmir.

"If they're going to build more bathrooms, why not build them in a way to accommodate the students?" asked Bilal Dabaja, 22, a political science major and Muslim. "There is a sizable minority of students who are Muslims."

A similar controversy erupted in April in Minnesota, when Minneapolis Community and Technical College officials were bombarded with thousands of angry e-mails after announcing plans to build foot wash stations.

The issue was fueled by criticism from conservative Internet bloggers. In Metro Detroit, Southfield attorney Debbie Schlussel is leading the charge against U-M Dearborn's plans, writing: "Forget about the Constitutionally mandated separation of church and state at least when it comes to mosqueand state."

The Internet has created the fuss at U-M Dearborn, argued Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"To my knowledge, none of the students or staff have made any complaints about the foot-washing area," Walid said.

"This whole thing came to light through some right-wing Islama-phobic bloggers that want to promulgate the idea that the university is being Islama-fied."

At EMU, the idea of a foot-washing station at the student center building came about in focus groups that were held with hundreds of community members invited to participate in the planning process, Frank Miller said.

"This concept of the foot-wash was coming up fairly regularly for student groups who might want to do a meeting or prayer group in the student center," she said. "It's been a lovely touch of appreciation for a prayer ritual that's just a little different than what most of us are used to."

detnews.com