Former student awarded $150K after CPS forced participation in Hindu rituals

CHICAGO — A former Chicago Public Schools student was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after educators forced her to participate in Hindu rituals that violated her Christian beliefs, according to a civil case judgment in the Illinois Circuit Court.

Illinois Circuit Court judge Matthew F. Kennelly ruled in favor of Mariyah Green for Constitutional violations of her rights by the Board of Education of the City of Chicago and the David Lynch Foundation over mandated participation in a Hindu ritual while attending Bogan Computer Technical High School in Chicago’s Ashburn neighborhood.

According to a press release Wednesday, Green’s lawyers said they wanted to hold educators and program developers responsible for requiring participation in the promoted program that violated her Christian beliefs.

John Mauck, one of Green’s lawyers, said the offending program, named Quiet Time, was a thinly veiled Hinduistic religious program encompassing the practice of Transcendental Meditation.

Green and other students participating in that portion of the program were required to engage in a Puja initiation rite, Mauck said.

This ceremony includes statements recognizing the power possessed by various Hindu deities and invitations to those same deities to channel their powers through those present. The Puja participators were asked to make obeisance in various ways to a member of the Hindu deities.

According to Mauck, students at Bogan Computer Technical High School who did not want to participate in the Quiet Time program were warned that their failure to participate could impact their grades and disqualify them from participating in their respective graduation ceremonies.

“On the second day of this training in Transcendental Meditation, Mariyah told the instructor that her knee was injured in order to avoid kneeling before the image of a man in a photograph on a table in the middle of the room, that she described as looking like Buddha,” Mauck said.

Green said she was told that her grades and that her eligibility to play basketball would be negatively affected if she did not participate in the Quiet Time program. As Green had transferred to Bogan specifically for its basketball program, she knew she had to get good grades to remain on the team.

According to Green, she felt that she was forced to participate in Quiet Time each day, as she was told that cooperation during Quiet Time would count towards her grades, and she did not want to be kicked off the basketball team for poor academics.

“Mariyah Green’s concerns have been justified, her voice has been heard, and the offending parties have been held accountable,” Mauck said.

Green was awarded $150,000 in damages and legal fee on Monday, Oct. 23.