ALLENDALE, Michigan (Kokx News) — Officials at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in west Michigan reinstalled a blasphemous “art” display that mocks the Blessed Virgin Mary despite previously telling the public it would be taking it down.
In February, assistant vice president of communications Chris Knape said the school was going to be “relocating the piece to a space where it can be presented with greater context” after outcry from students, local Catholics, and state lawmakers.
The display was originally installed in the Kirkhof Student Center. It was created by GVSU alumna Irlanda Beltran and bought by the school for $1,800. Beltran identifies as “LatinX” and claims her “artwork” explores “cultural and contemporary issues, addressing topics such as gender-based violence, mental health, gun control, and homophobia.” The display includes three digitally altered images of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pro-LGBT and leftist slogans as well as a gun are scatted across Our Lady’s images.
READ: Michigan university under fire for blasphemous image mocking Our Lady of Guadalupe
Senior Noah Mullins has been leading the fight since last school year to have GVSU remove the display altogether. He told Stephen Kokx on the Church & State podcast that it has been reinstalled in the provost’s office. While not visible to the public, the image currently hangs on the wall opposite Sean Lancaster’s office. Lancaster is the associate vice president for academic affairs. Dr. Jennifer A. Drake serves as the school’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
It is not readily known when the display was installed in the provost’s office. It appears to have been relocated over the summer, as geography professor Heather Moody forced her students to visit the display last spring while it was in storage in Grand Valley’s art gallery. One student who was enrolled in Moody’s class said they were spiritually disturbed by the assignment. The student said that Moody informed her class she would rather stand with Beltran for the backlash she was getting than with those who were “offended” by it.
Mullins told Kokx News that Moody is not the only professor who has expressed support for the image, which is clearly sacrilegious. He noted that art professor Brett Colley wrote a letter to school officials last spring on behalf of more than 20 of his colleagues. The letter said they were “deeply troubled over the chilling effect” caused by the decision to take the display down in the Kirkhof Center.
In an interview with left-wing website Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy in March, Colley downplayed the blasphemous nature of the image. He claimed that it was simply meant to “promote dialogue” and that Catholic students at Grand Valley were overreacting. He also referred to Our Lady of Guadalupe not as a woman but as an “it.”
Mullins told Kokx that he will not stop defending the honor of Our Lady and that he will do everything he can to ensure the image is taken down for good before he graduates in December. At present, Grand Valley receives roughly $100 million in taxpayer funds each year.
If you wish to contact Grand Valley administrators to urge them to remove this blasphemous “art” display, respectfully reach out to the persons below.
- Dr. Philomena Mantella, GVSU president, (616) 331-2100, [email protected]
- Chris Knape, assistant vice president of communications, (616) 331-2953, [email protected]
- Jennifer Drake, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, (616) 331-2400 or [email protected]
- Sean Lancaster, associate vice president for academic affairs, (616) 331-2400 or [email protected]
- Mr. Nathan Kemler, director of galleries, (616) 331-3638 or (616) 331-8122, [email protected]
