Valedictorian touts Christian faith in graduation speech after censorship attempt: lawyers

May 29, 2025

A high school valedictorian in North Carolina spoke of his faith in Christ and thanked God in his remarks last weekend despite his school district pushing him to remove or amend any references to Christianity.

The Christian Post reports that the unnamed valedictorian gave an “unaltered” graduation speech at an unnamed North Carolina high school, according to a statement released this week by the religious liberty legal group Liberty Counsel.

In his speech, the student said, “I want to thank my Lord Jesus Christ for getting me through because if it weren’t for Him, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through life,” adding, “Jesus Christ has always loved me.”

A redacted letter that Liberty Counsel had sent the student, included screenshots of alleged changes that school administrators wanted the student to make to his valedictory speech.

According to the Christian Post, those suggested changes included replacing the sentence giving thanks to Jesus Christ with the phrase, “Without my faith, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through life.”

School administrators also recommended that the student say, “He has always loved me” instead of “Jesus Christ loved me.”

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver called the student’s approach to the speech “respectful” and clarified that, “Voluntary references to God or Jesus Christ in a graduation speech are all protected by the First Amendment and may not be censored by school officials,”

The letter from Liberty Counsel noted that the student’s speech focused on medical challenges the student had faced and gave appropriate credit to his parents and teachers and challenged his classmates to be a good influence.

Liberty Counsel also advised that, “The U.S. Supreme Court has held that private speech is protected; it is only government speech endorsing religion that is prohibited by the Establishment Clause.”

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Charles DeLoye