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Imagine a public high school graduation ceremony. The graduates wait expectantly as the valedictorian mounts the podium to give her address. "Fellow graduates, parents, teachers, faculty, and members of the school board," she begins. Suddenly she sneezes. The graduating class speaks as one: "God bless you!" Although rooted in fact, this story has gained mythical stature.' To some, it illustrates the determination and deviousness of those intent on forcing religion into the public schools. To others, it demonstrates the absurdity in attempting to erase all religious references from public school life. While the story is frequently related as a joke, analyzing the constitutionality of such student-initiated religious expression is no laughing matter. Few legal issues provoke more controversy than religious expression in the public schools. The ACLU reports that of all the cases it handles, only death penalty and school prayer issues regularly elicit anonymous death threats.2 And the Supreme Court's various rulings on religion in public schools, rather than bringing order to the area, have only added confusion to the controversy. This Comment seeks to dispel the confusion surrounding student-initiated religious expression. Drawing on two recent Supreme Court cases, Board of Education v Mergens' and Lee v Weisman,4 this Comment will argue that while the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech generally protects student religious speech in the public school setting, the Establishment Clause prohibits organized religious exercises at public school events unless they are held at events that students voluntarily

Student-Initiated Religious Expression after Mergens and Weisman