One of the hottest sculpture stories around the nation right now involves a piece on the Washburn University in Topeka, KS.
It involves a figure of a cleric wearing a bishop’s mitre (hat) that’s shaped like a penis, according to a lot of viewers. It’s called “Holier than Thou”  and in the grand old tradition of public sculpture controversy, the problem may be in the eye of the beholder.
Right now, Witchita Catholic schools are banning recruiters from Washburn on their campuses and the Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas is testifying in Federal District Court against it. The case was mounted by the Thomas More Center in Michigan stating that the piece is anti-religious and specifically anti-Catholic in content. According to their website, "The Thomas More Law Center filed the civil rights lawsuit alleging that the university's display conveys the impermissible message of hostility toward Catholics and the Catholic religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution." The Center addresses the sculpture as an example of "hate speech" which is clearly prohibited on campus.
The University, after receiving several letters against it has decided to continue displaying it and to develop discussion groups around it. The artist, though, says it’s supposed to express the fear that he felt going to confession as a kid. School officials say it's a free speech question.
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