Invocations at public events represent a tradition that goes back to and before the founding of the country and continues into the present. You may recall the invocations, for example, at President Obama's inauguration earlier this year. As Obama was being introduced to the world as the President of the United States of America, Pastor Rick Warren took time in his inauguration to recognize that “everything we see and everything we can’t see, exist because you alone.” Our nation brings in our Commander and Chief with words of prayer and hope for the future. The South Orange County Community College District performs the tradition of a invocation before many of its ceremonies, including graduation and before all of its board of Trustee meetings. The District wants to continue this time-honored practice by offering invocations and the Pledge of Allegiance at significant District and college events in order to call attention to the solemnity of these occasions in the lives of students, their families and our educational institutions, to invoke divine guidance and blessing, to show respect for beliefs widely held among members of the community, to promote patriotism, to honor America's heritage, and to reflect on the meaning that service and sacrifice give to every human life.
The District recognizes that church and state must remain separate, but this should not require an attitude of hostility toward religion or exclude recognition of religious beliefs in public life while neither promoting nor disparaging anyone's religious faith or nonbelief.
The District recognizes that church and state must remain separate, but this should not require an attitude of hostility toward religion or exclude recognition of religious beliefs in public life while neither promoting nor disparaging anyone's religious faith or nonbelief.
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