Campus Footbaths for Muslim Students Cause Controversy

Angela Januzzi

August 8, 2007 

At schools such as the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus, where ten percent of the student population is Muslim, over a dozen universities have recently installed bathroom footbaths for their students’ use before prayer. 

While such schools are referring to the footbath installation as a “health and safety measure,” both supporters and opponents are interpreting it in other ways. Some view the construction of the footbaths as an unconstitutional move to favor and support Islamic beliefs, while others see it as a convenient answer to logistical student needs’ problems. However, critics such as Hal Downs, president of the Michigan chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argue that the state university footbaths are: “building a structure for a particular religious tradition, and the Constitution says the government isn’t supposed to endorse a particular religion.” 

The schools involved contest that the footbaths are open to all students, including athletes who may find them convenient. Yet as footbaths continue to be added to bathrooms of new campus buildings across the country, the controversy continues to ask if the additions are a matter of convenience, or of the Constitution.  

Source: Lewin, Tamar. “Universities Install Footbaths to Benefit Muslims, and Not Everyone Is Pleased.” www.nytimes.com. Posted: August 7, 2007.