Auburn University was heavily criticized for the Unite Auburn event held on Sept. 12, which featured head football coach Hugh Freeze and other prominent Auburn figures baptizing students, by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a group based out of Wisconsin that, according to its website, “works as an umbrella for those who are free from religion and are committed to the cherished principle of separation of state and church. As FFRF’s principal founder Anne Gaylor noted, ‘To be free from religion is an advantage for individuals; it is a necessity for government.’”

Auburn University is a public school in the state of Alabama.

The Foundation noted the event was organized by Tonya Prewett and her husband Chad Prewett, who is an assistant coach on the men’s basketball team. Men’s basketball head coach Bruce Pearl and baseball head coach Butch Thompson both promoted the event which was held in Auburn’s Neville Arena.

Auburn’s student newspaper, The Plainsman, reported that “thousands of students” attended the event in the arena before going out to the pond behind Auburn’s Red Barn in Ag Heritage Park off S. Donahue Drive. A video of Freeze baptizing freshman defensive back Sylvester Smith in the lake went viral on social media.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation deemed the event as “unconstitutional.”

AL.com reached out to an Auburn University spokesperson but did not receive an immediate response.

“Auburn University is a public university, not a religious one. It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for university employees to use their university position to organize, promote or participate in a religious worship event,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line writes to Auburn University President Christopher B. Roberts, according to the press release. “These ongoing and repeated constitutional violations at the university create a coercive environment that excludes those students who don’t subscribe to the Christian views being pushed onto players by their coaches.”

According to the press release, men’s basketball team chaplain Jeremy Napier said he baptized at least 20 students.

The Foundation also states this is not the first time Auburn has “prioritized religious practices over students’ rights.” The press release references letters written to Auburn in 2015 and 2019.

In 2015, the Freedom From Religion Foundation published a “Pray For Play” report that accused former Auburn head coach and current U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville as an “overly prayerful football coach” who established “unconstitutional” practices.

The 2019 letter centered around Chaplain Chette Williams, who is still employed by the university according to the press release, “to proselytize and pray with the football team.”

“FFRF is asking the public university to take immediate action to protect its student athletes and to ensure that coaches understand that they have been hired as coaches, not religious leaders,” the press release states. “The coaches and assistant coaches should be educated on their constitutional duties as university employees, FFRF insists. They may not lead or encourage any religious activities in their capacity as coaches and cannot participate in any student-led religious activities.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]