A publicized dispute regarding an office in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center was less controversial than portrayed, members of the Penn State Atheist/Agnostic Association (PSAAA) said.
A story printed in The Daily Collegian stated that many student groups have voiced complaints regarding the PSAAA's presence in the spiritual center, but PSAAA President Daniel Farbowitz said only two individuals have complained and several have responded positively to the group's presence.
Robert Smith, director of the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs at Penn State, confirmed Farbowitz' remarks and said more than a dozen people have given positive feedback regarding the group.
"Individuals have commented to us that they really like that we have the atheists and agnostics here because it would make for a better exchange of ideas, which it does," he said. "They can't believe that we have such a group here at the spiritual center and they think it's pretty cool."
Smith said he has received no formal complaints about the PSAAA's presence in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.
Smith said the two complaints he did receive were verbal complaints from the director of Catholic Campus Ministry, Father Matthew Laffey, and the minister for the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF), William "Buzz" Roberts.
Smith added that of the two who made complaints, Laffey was the more verbally opposed to the PSAAA's presence in Pasquerilla. While Roberts has no problem with the existence of the group, he thinks it might be better suited for a different, non-faith-based building on campus, Smith said.
"No whole student organization has actually voiced a concern that [members of the PSAAA] are here; only their advisers have," Smith said.
Farbowitz said he did not agree with Thursday's story compiled by the reporter. The reporter was a member of the Newman Catholic Student Association and quoted a fellow member who opposed the PSAAA's presence in Pasquerilla. The reporter's affiliation posed a conflict of interest in writing the story, according to Collegian policy.
"What the reporter did was take the views of two groups and parlay them into a story," Farbowitz said. "It is a very manufactured controversy."
Terry Casey, Collegian editor in chief, said the reporter has been suspended indefinitely and removed from her position as a religion and morality reporter.
Farbowitz (senior-physics and philosophy) said the presence of the PSAAA in the spiritual center should continue to remain positive.
Some campus religious groups agree.
Aaron Kaufman, executive director of Penn State Hillel, said that while Hillel does not have an official position on the PSAAA, he thinks the group has the right to occupy an office in Pasquerilla because of its classification as a religious group.
"They are classified as a religious group by the Office of Student Affairs, so they are entitled to space as much as any other religious group," he said. "The greater the diversity here, the more fruitful the conversations."
Bridget Finnegan, president of Newman, declined to comment.
