ALLENDALE, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — A liberal professor at Grand Valley State University in west Michigan is under fire after making her students complete an assignment on an anti-Christian art display that was taken down from public viewing on campus following outcry from students and local residents earlier this year.
Professor Heather Moody teaches in Grand Valley’s Geography department. Roughly 25,000 students are enrolled at the school, which was founded in 1960. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, Grand Valley received nearly $100 million in taxpayer funds.
During the winter 2024 semester, Moody taught “GPY 380: Race, Ethnicity, and Place.” The course, per the school’s student-run newspaper, studies “ethnic and racial segregation, class segregation and inequalities in neighborhoods.” She has also taught “GPY 220: Cultural Geography,” among other courses.
READ: Michigan university under fire for blasphemous image mocking Our Lady
A student who recently took Moody’s Cultural Geography class spoke with LifeSite anonymously about an assignment she forced students to complete “for credit” as part of their grade.
According to the school’s course catalog, Cultural Geography investigates the “distinctive spatial patterns of culture around the world” while examining “the distributions of population, language, religion, race, agriculture, industry, urbanization, and development and how these distributions change over time.”
The student enrolled in Moody’s class told LifeSite they were initially excited about the course but were disappointed that it turned out to be an “indoctrination” into woke ideology.
“What I thought would be an interesting class discussing different places on the earth and their cultures turned out to be a political indoctrination course about supporting views on Critical Race Theory, White Supremacy, LGBTQ+ Issues, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and others, all while looking down on those who support views contrary to the subjects mentioned,” the student said.
The student, who is a Christian, says they were extremely uncomfortable when Moody brought the class to see a blasphemous “art” display that was created by GVSU alumna Irlanda Beltran. The display and the negative reaction it caused Christians in west Michigan was covered extensively by LifeSite earlier this spring. The outrage was primarily due to the display’s inclusion of pro-LGBT and pro-homosexual phrases transposed over images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.
The student told LifeSite via email that they “went in to see this display as part of a mandatory field trip, as attendance for the class was mandatory, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. I had no idea the display had a title, ‘Petals of Change.’ I just saw briefly from the news that the artwork was protested on campus.”
“Once we went into the room at the GVSU Art Museum Support Facility, where they kept the display in the archives or storage, and I saw the display,” the student continued, “I instantly knew this was going to be a problem. About two minutes into seeing the display, I had a spiritual and physical encounter with Jesus Christ. I could physically feel his spirit with me at that exact moment. He said to me, ‘My son, get out of this room. You are not safe in here. This display contains an evil entity, and you must not be subjected to it. Find a safe place to go, but do not remain in this room.’”
“Once I heard that, I got out as quick as I could. I went to the facility bathroom, and I sat there, cried, and prayed for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I heard Christ say to me, ‘You are now safe to return to your class. They are finishing their work in that room.’ Not even a minute after I left the bathroom, they finished. I knew that whatever they were talking about in that room regarding the display, Jesus did not want me to hear,” the student added.
“Before they ended, I heard Professor Moody, say, and I am paraphrasing, that she would rather stand with Irlanda for the backlash she is getting because of the display rather than stand with the multitude of students attending this University who are offended by the display,” the student continued, saying that they “felt very uncomfortable.”
“I felt uncomfortable coming to class every day since, for I then knew that she did not support people like me. The assignment that she posted was a ‘thank you note’ with some questions. She stated that she would send the responses anonymously in a giant email, but she still has access to our responses. That makes me very uncomfortable knowing that she could potentially use that against me because my responses were very much against the display and did not conform to her views.”
WATCH: Michigan student demands university remove blasphemous images mocking Our Lady
LifeSite sent an email earlier this week to Professor Moody. Copied on the email was Chris Knape, the school’s assistant vice president of communications, and Alison Christensen, project manager and curator of public spaces for Grand Valley’s art museum.
LifeSite asked if Moody checked to see if students were “uncomfortable” or if they had any “moral objections to visiting the display in the first place.” LifeSite also asked if Moody expressed solidarity with the image’s creator, Irlanda Beltran, and whether Moody believed the assignment was yet another instance of a professor forcing woke ideology onto students via an anti-Christian assignment. As of the publication of this story, LifeSite has not received a response to its inquiries.
The blasphemous image mocking Our Lady was initially purchased by Grand Valley for a reported $1,800. The school’s graphic design department bestowed an award on Beltran for it last June. It was initially installed at the school’s Kirkhof Student Center on its Allendale campus, but after outcry from Christian students, local lawmakers, and the general public, officials relocated the display to the art center so its “context” could be better understood. In February, over 100 protesters, most of whom were Catholic, held a Rosary rally on campus to make reparation for the display.
READ: Michigan Catholics rebuke bishop for refusing to condemn blasphemous ‘art’ mocking Our Lady
The student who was enrolled in Moody’s class further told LifeSite that they are not Catholic but that the image is “nothing short of blasphemy and heresy.”
“If Irlanda is a practicing Catholic, her acts of heresy and blasphemy in this display could be enough for her to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. This display is a clear and present attack on students of faith, including myself. I am not a Catholic, yet this still offends me,” the student said.
The student also said “shame on Grand Valley for allowing this display to be shown in the first place knowing that it would upset students of faith and shame on them for purchasing the work knowing full well that it is upsetting. Every student that walks onto Grand Valley State University’s campus should feel welcome, included, and valued. Right now, students of faith are being told that they are not welcome, included, or valued, all because of the university’s actions to support stuff like ‘Petals of Change’ and to use donor funds to support this kind of exclusivity. If I were a donor of the school and I found out that my money was going toward this kind of stuff, I would withdraw funding immediately.”
For respectful comments only, contact Chris Knape at Grand Valley’s communications department [email protected], (616) 331-2221; Professor Moody [email protected]; and/or the president’s office at [email protected], (616) 331-2100.
