River Valley not apologizing for anti-gay graduation speech – Marion Star
Despite pleas from students and parents, River Valley school officials on Monday said they will not apologize for an anti-gay graduation speech that garnered national media attention.
River Valley Local Schools explained the reasoning for not issuing a public apology at the district’s June board meeting Monday following Jim McGuire’s speech at the May 27 River Valley High School graduation commencement as district students and parents demanded an apology for the hurt caused by McGuire’s remarks.
Opening the meeting held at Tri-Rivers Career Center, Superintendent Adam Wickham restated that McGuire’s comments did not express the beliefs of the district and said the district values all members of the Viking community.
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Wickham then noted that River Valley is going to work on improving the distinguished alumni portion of graduation and consider removing it completely, noting the district did not believe that was the right time or place for McGuire’s controversial comments, which urged students to choose Biblical principles and pursue heterosexual relationships:
“Choose a spouse, I suggest. I also strongly suggest to make sure to choose Biblical principles, you know, a male with a female and female with a male,” he said in the May 27 commencement address.
Wickham then provided an explanation for why the district has decided to not provide an apology to the community after the comments were made by the school’s alumni speaker.
“Some ask why are we not apologizing for the comments. River Valley is a public school and therefore a local government, and as such the district does not endorse or condemn the personal beliefs of any person including private citizens,” Wickham said.
“The speaker has the right to freedom of speech and religious expression. Not issuing an apology for a speech made by someone who is not an employee of our organization is not and should never be considered an endorsement of someone’s personal beliefs.”
This desire to not issue apology follows McGuire’s refusal to resign from his board appointment at the Marion County Board of Developmental Disabilities (MCBDD) through community outcry and the organization advocating for his removal.
The district said it values its students and staff but it also values the right to free speech.
“No matter who you are or what you believe, River Valley does value all students, staff and members of the RV community, but we also value the protections – and I want to say this: that was the same before May 27 and it’s the same now, but I’m going to also make it clear – we value of the protections of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights,” Wickham said.
During the time for public comment which directly followed Wickham’s address, some members of the Marion community rose to support McGuire’s statements and defend the First Amendment.
River Valley alumnus and former teacher and coach with the district Allen Douce said he stood with the school in defense of the First Amendment.
“I believe that the media, newspaper, the River Valley school board, should not be able to approve or disapprove an American citizen, a Marion County resident, a River Valley taxpayer, a River Valley alumni on what they think and they believe. That’s their opinion, and I agree with the board that we should not be making statements,” he said.
“You should be able to share your opinion on how to live a godly life, on what has worked for you, and that should be the end of it.”
However, it was River Valley students and parents that rose to express their hurt not only at McGuire’s comments but the school’s decision to not issue a public apology.
One former student, Kade Ebert, was a 2022 River Valley graduate.
Ebert said that he proudly identifies as gay and wasn’t planning on attending the board meeting to speak because he has been tired of having his graduation overshadowed by McGuire’s speech and the following media attention and community conversation.
“This was the last push I needed to completely leave Marion for college, but yesterday the realization came to me: I deserve to live in Marion just as much as anybody else,” Ebert said.
“I deserve to be heard just as much as Jim McGuire. I should not have to leave the town that I was born in to make a better life for myself. I am more proud of who I am and what I am yet to be. Who I love is not what makes me a good or bad person. What decides what type of person we are is how we treat others.”
Ebert said that Wickham and High School Principal Barry Dutt apologized to him and his family in private, but when they received the public statement from the district lacking an apology, he said it made the private one lose its value.
“An apology will not fix the damage that has been done, however it is a start to creating a more inclusive tomorrow. I am asking you now, as your former-student representative, to apologize,” he said.
Later in the evening, Ebert’s father, Jason Ebert, rose to address the board.
“This is tough, because Kade’s my son,” he said, in tears.
He described the four phases of inclusion and diversity, including being an advocate, an activist, growing in awareness and being unaware.
“When you are unaware, you think diversity is compliance-related. You simply tolerate it, and you feel it’s someone else’s job and you often defend it. That’s a lot of what I’ve seen,” Jason Ebert said.
Another father of a 2022 River Valley graduate, Rob Whalen, said he open enrolled his four kids in River Valley schools because he thought they were better than this.
“You guys saying that you shouldn’t issue an apology is a cop out. We have sheriff’s (deputies) out here,” he said gesturing to the officers in the hallway. “If one of their volunteers does something on the job. They’re responsible for it,” Whalen said.
“If on that stage if someone had used a racial slur, if someone had been an anti-Semite, that microphone would have been turned off immediately. There would have been an apology issued,” he said later.
His son Sage Whalen, a trans student enrolled in River Valley Middle School, spoke directly after to demand an apology from the district.
“My RV experience has been built on support, acceptance and kindness. The speech given at the 2022 graduation was inappropriate, homophobic and unnecessary,” he said, asking for a formal apology from McGuire and those who asked him to speak.
Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 564 – 5243 | sveneziano@gannett.com