MIT Bars 'Jews for Jesus' Ceremony

Ralph Giffone, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) may press charges of religious discrimination against the MIT administration for denying a student religious organization the use of an MIT facility last weekend.

The MIT administration revoked permission Thursday to allow a Christian group called "MIT Seekers" to sponsor a Purim celebration in cooperation with "Jews for Jesus," a group of Christian Jews based in New York. The administration cancelled the celebration in response to complaints from MIT Hillel, a Jewish group, and students and faculty who criticized "Jews for Jesus," Giffone said. Hillel called the group a "proselytising organization" which does not belong at MIT, Rabbi Dan Shevitz, director of MIT Hillel, said Friday.

Giffone, a 17-year-old freshman at MIT and a member of "Jews for Jesus," said that if he obtains parental conset he will file a complaint against MIT with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), asking them to investigate the Institute's action.

"I feel that I've been denied my civil rights," Giffone said yesterday.

Giffone added that if the ACLU investigation determines the administration discriminated against "Jews for Jesus," he will "do everything possible to make sure that this never happens again to any other, group." He declined to state for certain he will take legal action.

Jerry Platz, the "MIT Seekers" liaison, said the "Seekers" are "very opposed to the administration's decision and will support Giffone if he takes legal action against the university."

The formal dispute originated when the Association for Student Activities (ASA) at MIT asked the Provost, Walter Rosenblith, to revoke permission for the event because some of the advertising for the event failed to bear the logo of "MIT Seekers'," the official sponsors. The posters bore only the imprint of "Jews for Jesus," a movement not recognized at MIT, according to Louis Menard, special assistant to the Provost, who cited both technical and moral grounds for cancelling the event.

ASA also claimed that the evangelistic nature of the event would violate a longstanding agreement at MIT that no religious group engage in missionary activity in an organized way among the members of any other religious group. Menand stated in a letter to the "MIT Seekers."

Menand heads the Facilities Use Committee, which reviewed the issue and then recommended the cancellation of the event. The committee then invited the "MIT Seekers" to reschedule the event "for a date and place to be agreed upon by the Seekers and the Facilities Use Committee," Menand said. A representative of "Jews for Jesus" said the speakers who traveled to MIT probably would not be able to return at a later date.

The "MIT Seekers" reversed an earlier decision to press charges as an organization against the administration. "We are very concerned but we want to let the ACLU defend us," Platz said yesterday. The "MIT Seekers" decided to change their strategy following consultation with Moise Rosen, the executive director of "Jews for Jesus."