When the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill announced its selection for its summer reading project, officials hoped to be lauded for their efforts to engender religious tolerance.
Instead, the institution was castigated and threatened with a lawsuit.
The incident has hit home, as well, for while the book chosen for this year's Penn Reading Project did not spark such controversy, University officials say they are mindful of the consequences surrounding their choice.
UNC, which is a public institution, asked its incoming freshmen to read Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations, translated and introduced by Michael Sells.
Many Christian groups, including the Family Policy Network, spoke out against the assignment. The FPN filed a lawsuit against UNC in July in which they argued that the assignment violated the separation of church and state and forced indoctrination.
The lawsuit was dismissed and on Aug. 19 UNC freshmen attended discussion groups on the book.
This year, Penn's incoming freshmen read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a book which deals with the European colonization of a Nigerian tribe and focuses on the plight of one particular family.
"We don't seek out controversy, and we don't avoid it," said David Fox, director of the Penn Reading Project. "We've never chosen a book [to stir controversy]."
Regarding UNC's selection process, Fox said, "I am sure that as they were choosing it, [the committee] understood it would be controversial." He added that UNC officials were probably not expecting such widespread publicity.
Though Fox agreed that reading a book about the Qur'an may be worthwhile, he admitted, "I wouldn't have thought to do it. And as far as I know it has not been mentioned in [Penn Reading Project discussions]."
Religious Studies Professor and Chairman E. Ann Matter liked UNC's choice. "I think it would be great for a Penn Reading Project.... It is totally appropriate to ask students to read and discuss a book [about Islam]."
Penn students who recalled their experience with the Penn Reading Project wondered if this University could ever fall under such scrutiny.
College freshman Dave Cohen said he would only read the book if it was meant solely for educational purposes.
"If the [information] is presented in an educational way, I wouldn't mind," he said. "But if it was meant to force a point upon me, then I wouldn't see any point in reading it."
Another Penn student, College sophomore Liz Spector, said, "In my opinion, reading a book doesn't make one indoctrinated into a religion.... Plenty of Penn students take religious courses and don't adhere to that religion."
UNC Chancellor James Moeser said that a primary reason for selecting a book on the Qur'an was to allow students to share their insights in an intellectual atmosphere on what has become a hot topic over the last year.
"It is precisely in times like these... that it is important to reaffirm a university's role in addressing controversial subjects," Moeser said in a statement during the incident.
Fox said that Penn's committee did not openly discuss the need to address issues that have been in the national spotlight post-Sept. 11 when selecting a book for this year's reading project.
"It wasn't something that anyone talked about.... But looking back, it certainly holds some resonance," Fox said. "We were looking outside our culture."
The culmination of UNC's reading project on Aug. 19 reportedly went smoothly. Nearly every student attended an assigned discussion group.
UNC Political Science Professor Jeffrey Obler ran one of the discussions and noted that he was impressed by his students' comments.
"It went very well.... We had great discussions... comparing Christianity to Islam." Obler said. He said that his students compared the values system in the Qur'an to those taught in Christianity.
"One student remarked that there might be some people who wouldn't come to UNC because we seem too radical," he added.
In past reading projects, UNC considered participation mandatory. This year, however, the University said that reading the book and going to a discussion was optional.
