A Colorado high school senior will be able to repaint her parking space on campus to showcase her Christian faith after she challenged the school’s ban on religious designs.
In August, Sophia Shumaker, a student at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs’ Academy School District 20, sought permission to decorate her paid parking space with a design illustrating Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep.
The school has a tradition of allowing seniors to reserve and pay for their own parking space and decorate it with school-approved artwork.
According to school guidelines, designs must not include “offensive, negative, rude, gang-related, political, religious, or trademarked images.” School officials initially considered images on students’ parking spaces to be “government speech,” not personal speech and denied Shumaker the opportunity to express her faith.
But last week, First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based legal organization that defends religious freedom, sent a demand letter on behalf of Shumaker after her school rejected her design for her parking spot. Shumaker’s design featured a shepherd, a staff and sheep, along with a reference to the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:4.
“I was honestly upset just because other people were getting to express themselves how they wanted and Christianity is my whole identity and I just really wanted to express that,” she told Fox News Digital in an interview.
After the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk in September, Shumaker said she was inspired to take a stand.
“I had been watching Charlie Kirk for like as long as I can remember,” she said. “He’s been the one that really influenced my religion and speaking out about what’s right and stuff like that. So, he was really big on my heart throughout this whole process.”
First Liberty cited several schools within the same district which allow symbols such as crosses and other Christian references in parking space designs.
“The district’s inconsistent policies demonstrate that the seniors’ messages on the parking spots in Academy School District 20, including those at Rampart, are private speech, not government speech,” First Liberty wrote in a letter to Superintendent Jinger Haberer and Principal Meghan Sanders on Oct. 22. “Therefore, the district cannot deny Ms. Shumaker’s private, religious speech without violating the First Amendment.”
First Liberty demanded that the district rescind what it called an “unconstitutional policy” and allow Shumaker to repaint her parking space with her original Christian design.
“It is unconstitutional for the school to reject Sophia’s parking space design due to its religious imagery,” stated Keisha Russell, Senior Counsel at First Liberty. “The Constitution protects private, religious speech—even when it occurs on public school property. The school’s policy violates both the Free Speech Clause and the Free Exercise Clause because it targets Sophia’s speech because of its religious viewpoint.”
Academy School District 20 confirmed to Fox News Digital that the policy would be changed going forward “to keep things clear and fair for all students” and seniors would be allowed to repaint spaces upon request.
“The First Amendment protects students’ private expressions of faith in public schools,” Russell said. “We are encouraged that the school district will now allow students like Sophia to update their decorated spaces with religious themes for the remainder of the year, and we hope that it will make such a policy permanent so future students can enjoy the same opportunities.”
Russell said she hopes Shumaker’s case encourages other young people to stand up for their beliefs.
“It really shows other young people around the country how important it is to stick up for what you believe in,” Russell told Fox News Digital. “And I just want to encourage all young people to do the same.”
In August, First Liberty successfully defended Sabrina Steffans’ free speech rights to paint her parking space at Grand Island High School, near Buffalo, New York, with a Bible verse and religious artwork after school officials initially rejected the student’s design.
Such legal protection is nothing new. It’s what the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines more than 50 years ago. And it’s what the Court reaffirmed three years ago in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District ensuring that teachers and students are free to express their faith without threat of being censored or punished.
