Game Time Is Adjusted; Jewish School Will Play
Michael Stravato for The New York Times
Coach Chris Cole, center, and his assistant Desmond Combs will take their Beren Academy team to the state semifinal after all.
By MARY PILON
Published: March 1, 2012
A Texas high school athletics association said Thursday that, under legal pressure, it would change the time of a boys basketball state semifinal game to accommodate an Orthodox Jewish day school in Houston whose players observe the Sabbath.
Related
-
Texas Association Criticized for Ruling on Jewish Team (March 1, 2012)
-
In Texas, the Sabbath Trumps the Semifinals (February 28, 2012)
Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle, via Associated Press
Robert M. Beren Academy was expected to forfeit rather play on the Sabbath.
Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle, via Associated Press
Players for Robert M. Beren Academy, warming up before a practice, are headed to a semifinal on Friday.
The school, the Robert M. Beren Academy, was expected to forfeit its game against the Covenant School of Dallas, scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday. It appealed to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, the group that organizes the event, but the association said it was unwilling to change the time of the game, citing its bylaws.
But on Thursday, the association, known as Tapps, said on its Web site that it would comply with Beren Academy’s request and reschedule the semifinal game as well as the final should Beren win.
The semifinal will be played at 2 p.m. Friday at Nolan Catholic High School in Forth Worth; the championship game would be scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, said Edd Burelson, the director of Tapps. The organization received “hundreds of e-mails” regarding the Beren Academy schedule, he said.
“Legal concerns” brought about the schedule change,” said Burleson, adding: “I really don’t think our board was going to yield to the negativisms. They felt they had a reason, but in this particular case, they felt that it was in our best interest not to fight and delay the tournament.”
Lawyers representing players and parents of Beren Academy players filed a complaint and an application for a temporary restraining order Thursday morning in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas.
Nathan and Alyza Lewin, a father-daughter legal team based in Washington, said they heard about the situation Monday night. Nathan Lewin has argued several religious freedom cases before the Supreme Court, including cases involving the wearing of a skullcap while on military duty and the display of menorahs on public property.
On Tuesday morning, the Lewins contacted Richard A. Rohan and Tim Gavin, lawyers with Dallas-based Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, who agreed to take the case. All four agreed to work pro bono.
“Either way, we could see this was going to serve as a great life lesson for the kids,” Rohan said.
The lawyers interviewed parents and students who were willing to be named in the case.
“There was resistance to our bringing the lawsuit,” Alyza Lewin said. “We’re sorry that there are members of the Jewish community who are reluctant to challenge bias and prejudice as a result of this. But this case shows that sometimes legal action is necessary to get a result.”
The complaint named Isaac Mirwis, Isaac Buchine and Isaac Jacobson as student plaintiffs and Etan Mirwis, Mark Buchine and Myra Weisfeld as parent plaintiffs. The Mansfield Independent School District, which was scheduled to provide facilities for some of the games, and Tapps were listed as defendants.
The “three Isaacs,” as they’re known by some, have played basketball together since grade school, parents said.
Mansfield coordinates the use of high school campus gyms but “was not involved in the Tapps scheduling,” Richie Escovedo, a spokesman for the district, said in a statement.
The complaint said that the students were “being put to the choice of violating their own religious beliefs and the beliefs imparted by the parent plaintiffs to their children, or forfeiting the opportunity to participate in the state basketball championship tournament,” and that Tapps discriminated against the players by refusing to reschedule the game.
“We are thankful to the Tapps for ultimately making the right decision,” Beren Academy said in a statement Thursday. “We are very proud of our basketball team, the Beren Stars. Not only have the boys demonstrated considerable skill on the court this season, they have handled the stress of the past week with extraordinary maturity and composure.”
Tapps board members meet several times a year to discuss whether to update their bylaws, Burleson said, adding that “they may wait until the dust settles a bit” before considering a bylaw change.
The association’s decision not to change the game time had drawn criticism from Mayor Annise D. Parker of Houston and Jeff Van Gundy, the former coach of the Houston Rockets and the Knicks, as well as several religious groups. Students took to social media to start a Facebook and a Twitter account, and a petition on Change.org had garnered more than 7,000 backers by Thursday evening.
Mark Buchine, the father of Isaac, a Beren Academy senior, said his family struggled with the decision to join the legal complaint.
“We talked about, does God really want us to do this?” he said. “Are we going to look good or poorly in his eyes? It came down to the gut.”
Members of the team practiced Thursday and then headed to the Dallas-Fort Worth area Thursday night.
“They’re heading up to play this weekend,” Buchine said. “Thank God.”
No comments:
Post a Comment