Lawsuit: Administrators Banned Protest of Sacreligious Play Then Assaulted Student

by Dan Flynn

Eighty years ago the Soviet Union developed a novel method of dealing with dissenters: it labeled them insane and committed them to mental institutions. A Temple University student contends that his school resorted to these very tactics in response to his objections to a school-sponsored performance of a play that depicts Jesus as a promiscuous homosexual.

Michael Marcavage filed suit against Temple University in December 2000 for a an incident in which he alleges that University officials censored an event he had organized, roughed him up, and involuntarily committed him to the psychiatric ward of the school's hospital. His only offense, he claims, was to organize an event to counter a play that mocks Christianity.

The civil rights suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and contends that the plaintiff's First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated. The defendants in the suit are Temple University, its vice president for operations, William Bergman, and its managing director of campus safety services, Carl Bittenbender. Attorneys for the plaintiff include lawyers for the American Family Association's Center for Law and Policy.

The controversy began in the fall semester of 1999 when Marcavage learned that the play Corpus Christi would be staged on campus. The play, which generated a great deal of controversy when it ran on Broadway in 1998, portrays Jesus as a homosexual who indiscriminately beds his disciples. As a Christian, Marcavage decided to protest the play, which he considers blasphemous.

"It was very upsetting that my classmates would be mocking who I believe to be God," the then Temple University junior asserted.

Marcavage had nearly 1,000 fliers posted around the Philadelphia campus and announced that a demonstration would be held. Marcavage recalls that subsequent conversations with school officials convinced him that a protest would be counterproductive.

"I didn't want to bring negative attention to this play or to this university," Marcavage maintains. "Rather, I chose to use this as an opportunity to show students who the real Jesus is." Showing his peers "who the real Jesus is" included organizing a counter-event to Corpus Christi, instead of a protest. The prospective counter-event was to consist of gospel singers, speakers, and the presentation of a Biblically based play about the life of Christ called Final Destiny. This pro-Christian play would be performed by members of the Temple University chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ..

Although Corpus Christi was performed without incident , school administrators blocked Final Destiny and the accompanying speakers and gospel singers.

Marcavage contends that University officials initially agreed to provide a stage for the Christian group's event, but then retracted their promise at the 11th hour. When Marcavage offered to foot the bill for the program, school officials informed him that they would not allow him to hold his event.

During a contentious meeting on November 2, 1999-less than a week before the planned event was to take place-Temple vice president William Bergman called Marcavage into his office to inform him that the university was not permitting him to hold his program. Following a discussion, a disgusted Marcavage retreated to the restroom, threw water on his face, and asked God for direction about what to do next. God, however, had little to do with what then happened. A bizarre series of events transpired that ended with Marcavage-a dean's list student who had served as a White House intern with a security clearance in 1998-being detained in a psychiatric ward.

Marcavage's suit states that Temple Vice President "[William] Bergman pounded on the [bathroom] door and demanded that [Marcavage] come out." Marcavage then opened the door and was physically forced by Bergman to return to his office. "Once back in Bergman's office," the suit details, "Bergman, suddenly and without warning, pushed [Marcavage] down into a chair…. alarmed and afraid by Bergman's use of force, [Marcavage] told Bergman he wanted to leave. Bergman said no." Marcavage then asked to use the phone, a request that was also rebuffed. Realizing that these officials had no right to keep him against his will, Marcavage attempted to leave. The legal brief reports that the "Plaintiff then arose from the chair and was tripped to the floor by Bergman. As Plaintiff raised himself off the floor, he was forced onto a couch and held down by Bergman and Bittenbender. Plaintiff's repeated pleas to be released were refused."

Uniformed Temple Police then arrived and were ordered to handcuff Marcavage, who "was then carried out of the building and placed into a police car." The police refused to divulge to the student why he was being arrested or where he was going. "Shortly thereafter, Plaintiff was taken to the Emergency Crisis Center at Temple University Hospital against his will." The Christian student was then held in the psychiatric ward for more than three hours. Doctors examining him concluded that nothing was wrong with him and finally released him at 3:15 p.m.

Bill Bergman disputes the charges. "We treat everyone fairly at Temple," the Temple vice president explained. "We vehemently deny the allegations." Although he refused to elaborate further, Bergman pointed to the American Family Association's involvement in the suit as evidence that it lacks credibility. When asked if he also contested the assertion that school officials had Marcavage committed to Temple University Hospital, Bergman repeated his denial. Documents from the hospital, however, contradict Bergman's account. Bergman's deputy, Carl Bittenbender, did in fact sign the paperwork to have the then 20-year-old junior placed in the hospital against his will.

In signing the form to have Mr. Marcavage involuntarily committed, Carl Bittenbender checked-off boxes claiming that the Dean's List student had "inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily harm on another" and had "attempted suicide and that there is reasonable probability of suicide unless adequate treatment is afforded."

These claims made by Bittenbender are at odds with his own handwritten statement, however, which only noted his opinion that Maracavage exhibited "irrational," "agitated," and "confrontational" behavior. There is nothing about Marcavage hurting or threatening anyone. Nor is there mention of Mr. Bittenbender witnessing a suicide attempt. Bittenbender only claims that Marcavage locked himself in the bathroom. "I felt that he was going to hurt himself" and "may be suicidal," was his characterization of events. Yet, Bittenbender's subjective claims that he "felt" that the broadcast journalism major might be a danger to himself or that he "may" be in a suicidal state are quite different from claiming that the patient being committed had "attempted suicide" and "inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily harm on another."

This contradiction may prove to be the University's undoing in court. Above the boxes that Bittenbender checked on the form is a warning in bold capital letters: "Any person who provides any false information on purpose...may be subject to criminal prosecution and may face criminal penalties including conviction of a misdemeanor." The suit alleges that Bittenbender did just what the form warned him not to do.

Marcavage, who has no history of mental illness and shows no outward signs of being anything but a normal student, displayed no bodily evidence of any suicide attempt. No complaint was filed claiming that Marcavage attempted to harm any specific person. Nor is it clear how Bergman or Bittenbender could deduce how a suicide attempt or any mental breakdown was taking place on the other side of a locked bathroom door.

The mental status exam conducted by doctors at the hospital told a different story than the boxes checked off by Carl Bittenbender. The two doctors who examined Marcavage cleared him of any mental health problem. Although the examining doctor noted that Marcavage was "Tense" and "Sad," the evaluation described the 20-year-old junior as "Calm," "Cooperative," "Coherent," "Healthy," and "Mild." The examining physician noted that there were "no apparent grounds" for holding Marcavage and released him at 3:15 p.m., ending the ordeal that began more than five hours earlier in William Bergman's office.

Marcavage contends that administrators at the public institution had mocked his religion prior to the controversy. Some were aghast that anyone would object to Corpus Christi. When Bittenbernder asked Marcavage what he planned to do if it rained during his proposed counter-event, Bergman answered, "They believe God is on their side." Both men erupted in laughter. The suit contends that anti-Christian bigotry served as the motivation for their actions.

While Marcavage claims that one official acting in a personal capacity acknowledged that mistakes were made and expressed regret, he has been unable to rectify the injustice that occurred to him. When he attempted to file a police report against his alleged abductors, campus police informed him that Bittenbender was their boss and that they couldn't do anything about the complaint. They refused to file a report.

As its name implies, Temple was founded as a religious institution. "It saddens me that Temple University has been constantly trying to forget its past," Marcavage notes. "The University's attitude toward Christians is poor. They even attempted to tear down their own temple." Despite his troubles, Marcavage continues to attend Temple. He is scheduled to graduate this spring.

"What had gotten Michael a ticket to the psychiatric ward was his religious beliefs and opposition to a play," proposed attorney Michael Fahling. "How utterly chilling it is that something like this could happen at a major university by top-level officials."