APPLETON - A commencement speech in which a member of the Appleton school board referenced his Christian faith is sparking controversy and debate about what messages are appropriate in a public school setting.

In a letter sent to the school board and district administration Tuesday, a group of 29 Appleton North High School graduates and students took exception to the Rev. Alvin Dupree's speech at the school's commencement ceremony, which they complained was laden with "Christian themes."

The students called on the district to keep the expression of religious beliefs separate from school district events in the future.

Dupree, who was elected to the school board in 2017 and is founder and pastor of Family First Ministries, spoke about his faith and addressed fellow "believers" in the room during his speech at the ceremony on Thursday.

"For me, my source of strength is my faith and my relationship with Jesus Christ," Dupree said, according to the students' letter. "It sounds like I got some believers in this room, if you're here, you believe in that, go ahead and clap your hands."

Dupree later added: "Never succumb to the pressure of being politically correct."

In their letter, the students claimed Dupree "attacked one of the basic tenets of public education," by encouraging the crowd to applaud to show their Christian beliefs.

The speech "created in and out-groups by allowing those in a majority group to differentiate themselves from the 'others' and align themselves with a person in a position of power," they argued.

This is the second graduation speech this year that's resulted in controversy. About two weeks ago, a Sheboygan Lutheran High School graduate said he was not allowed to deliver the school's valedictorian speech about being gay.

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Appleton schools Superintendent Judy Baseman said the district's practice has always been to have one school board member and one member of the administration attend each of the three commencement ceremonies.

While student speeches are reviewed and rehearsed ahead of time in a process led by the high school's principal, Baseman said the board member is customarily given a closing statement prepared by the district and there is no formal policy that specifies that they must read it or what they may speak about in their own speech.

At the end of his speech, Dupree abandoned the district's closing and instead said: "Now it was typed out to say 'best wishes,' but I'm changing it to say what I would say, God bless."

Baseman wouldn't say whether the district will establish a new policy governing the content of commencement speeches. She instead emphasized the district's work to promote inclusive practices. Baseman also commended the students for the respectful, articulate ways they expressed themselves in a meeting with her last week and in the letter.

"We're continuing to work diligently as a Board of Education and a leadership team to make sure our graduation ceremonies are inclusive and welcoming to all," Baseman said. "That's our goal."

Speaking on behalf of the student group, William Scheffler told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that he felt uncomfortable during Dupree's speech and later heard from many other students that felt the same way.

Scheffler said the students respect Dupree's personal religious beliefs and appreciate the district's efforts in recent years to be inclusive of diversity.

However, they also believe that a representative of the district speaking about religion at a public school event cannot be considered freedom of speech, but is instead a violation of the Constitution's Establishment Clause.

The clause, part of the First Amendment, prohibits the establishment of religion by a governmental body.

"We have no intention of attacking Pastor Dupree's beliefs or Christianity, we just think that as a person in a position of power he was inappropriate to bring his view as a pastor into that public setting," Scheffler said. "We appreciate his message outside of that setting, but we feel that inside of a public school that crossed a line."

Dupree's response

In response to the students' and other community members' concerns, Dupree told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that he is an elected official — not a district employee — and emphasized that he has no obligation to withhold his personal views.

Dupree said he heard from many students and their family members who thanked him for the speech.

"People of faith should not have to go in the closet while everyone else is allowed to be free and out of the closet," Dupree said. "I did not impose or threaten or tell people that if they don't believe like I believe that they're wrong."

All people should, in general, feel free to share their beliefs on any platform, Dupree added.

"I think it's critical that we try not to silence anyone from being who they are, whether they're Muslim, they're LGBTQ, they're Christian, have no faith," Dupree said. "If we're going to be inclusive, don't exclude people of faith from being open about who they are."

Several community members, including parents of graduates, spoke in support of Dupree during the public input session at the Appleton school board meeting Monday.

Lisa Van Wyk, a parent of an Appleton North graduate, said hearing differing ideas and opinions in a school venue that promotes a solid value system and a quality of life for all is inspiring in her view.

"It represents what we want for our society — peace and respect," Van Wyk told the board. "My brothers and sisters are black, Cuban, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Catholic, Lutheran, agnostic, atheist, heterosexual and homosexual. If you have a problem with Pastor Dupree because he is a loving man who speaks his heart ... I have a problem with that."

Although Nadeem Siddiqui, who practices Islam, does not agree with Dupree's Christian views, he enjoyed aspects of Dupree's speech at his daughter's graduation. Siddiqui said religion is the basis of society and everyone should be open minded.

"Everybody has the right to believe what they want to believe and there should be no confusion of it," Siddiqui said.

Looking forward

The students outlined three recommendations for the district: First, the students requested that the district not invite Dupree to speak at any public school events in the future, citing an instance at a commencement ceremony in 2017 when Dupree similarly spoke about his faith.

That speech also provoked community concern and led to the Freedom from Religion Religion Foundation asking the district to restrain school board members from expressing their religious beliefs at school events.

"We find that Pastor Dupree has shown his intentions to promulgate his Christian beliefs onto the students of AASD, which should not be stood for," the students wrote.

Second, the students asked that the district require all commencement speeches, written by students and school board members, to be reviewed prior to the ceremony. In the case that the speaker's script is not followed, the students asked that the microphone to the speaker be cut.

Contact Samantha West at 920-996-7207 or swest@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SamanthaWest196.