Georgetown University (hey, aren't they Catholic?) complied with White House demands that a Jesus symbol be covered so that it did not show during a speech given by President Obama:
Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.
“In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage,” Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, told CNSNews.com.
“The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches,” she added. “Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”
Well, if you don't want Christian symbolism then perhaps you could give your speech somewhere other than at an institution that is not affiliated in some way with a church, perhaps, say, at the White House on the other side of town. And perhaps the University should be a little less 'respectful' to a government official who wants Jesus's name covered up.
But covering up Jesus seems a small price to pay for the worldly prestige of having the President speak at your college, doesn't it?
