The Haywood County, Tenn., school district has agreed to change its practices after the Freedom From Religion Foundation objected to a mandatory, religiously charged school assembly.

A concerned community member informed the state/church watchdog that on Dec. 5, 2025, Haywood High School held an assembly during the school day featuring Tennessee rapper Project Pat. Attendance appeared to be mandatory. Project Pat was introduced by a person who asked students to identify themselves as Christian or Muslim and then led the audience in prayer. During his remarks, Project Pat quoted the bible, spoke about God and led students in prayer, expressing hope that they would accept Jesus as their savior. He concluded the assembly by distributing “The Tongue: A Creative Force” by Charlie Capps, an overtly proselytizing book.

FFRF called out the district for the event, explaining that the assembly violated the First Amendment by subjecting students to school-sponsored religious exercise and coercive proselytization. “Students cannot simply leave the assembly without risking disciplinary action, nor is it reasonable to expect students to recognize their constitutional rights are being violated and dissent,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude wrote to the superintendent.

The school’s actions also marginalized students and staff who are nonreligious or adhere to minority faiths, FFRF pointed out. Allowing guest speakers, such as Project Pat, to proselytize during mandatory school events sends a clear message of exclusion to students who do not share those beliefs. Even if an opt-out had been offered, which does not appear to have been the case, voluntariness does not excuse a constitutional violation. Public schools may not sponsor or endorse religious messages, particularly when more than half of Generation Z is non-Christian, including the 43 percent that is nonreligious.

Thanks to FFRF’s work, the district has agreed to be more careful regarding guest speakers from now on.

“The [Haywood County Board of Education] understands the importance of its students’ and employees’ First Amendment rights. In no way did the HCBOE intend or attempt to circumvent those rights,” Superintendent Amie Marsh recently responded. “Moving forward, Central Office of HCBOE will prescreen such service providers.”

FFRF welcomes the district’s commitment to safeguarding constitutional rights.

“School districts must be vigilant about what outside speakers are allowed to present to students, since, just as we’ve seen here, it’s too easy to convert a mandatory assembly into a religious event,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “FFRF will continue working to ensure that public schools remain secular spaces — free from religious indoctrination, proselytization or coercion.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members and several chapters across the country, including hundreds of members and a chapter in Tennessee. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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