School District-Approved 'Satan Club' Sparks Backlash

A public high school in Kansas has approved creation of a student-launched Satan Club, an after-school group affiliated with The Satanic Temple (TST).

A spokesperson with Olathe Northwest High School, for grades nine through 12 in the southwest Kansas City suburbs, told Fox 4 News on Monday that the club "met the criteria to establish a student-initiated club and is now recognized as a student-initiated club." An application for the club was first submitted in mid-December, according to the report.

The Satan Club has sparked controversy at Olathe Public Schools, which faced pushback from parents and students aiming to block the club from gaining approval. A petition urging school administrators to reject the club's application was created on December 12 by Drew McDonald, who described themselves as a "concerned student from Olathe." As of Wednesday, nearly 8,000 people have signed. The petition's goal is set at 10,000.

"Satanism has a strong history of persecution and violence towards the church and those who believe in God," the petition reads. "Whether you believe in God, are a Christian, Catholic, Mormon, Hindu, Buddhist or even atheist you should see that ending this club is not just because it opposes Christianity but because what they stand for and the actions they will make are wrong and immoral. This isn't an argument over religion and Christianity but of right and wrong."

Other people who oppose the club's existence expressed outrage over social media. Kansas City blogger "Tony's Kansas City" wrote on his blog site Tuesday that the club "serves as a sign of the times."

"It turns out, we didn't learn anything from Christmas," read the post. "Here's a senior high school prank that serves as a sign of the times and stark reminder regarding the decline of American public education that has now extended beyond the urban core and currently threatens suburban institutions as well."

Users on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, also expressed concern, including a user by the name J M, who posted Tuesday, "who in their right mind would allow their kid to join a satan club?"

A fellow X user, Eugene Patrickson, said that they would "like to know if the students who are members of this group celebrated Christmas yesterday and accepted presents."

"The day isn't called Satanmas for a reason," Patrickson added. "Our country is literally going to hell."

"The fact that they are thinking about allowing Olathe High School to have a Satan club after they fought for years to keep religion out of schools is crazy," X user Karlevia Foster posted Wednesday.

Newsweek reached out to Olathe Public Schools via email for comment Wednesday.

According to Fox 4's report, all student-initiated clubs in the Olathe school district must meet a list of criteria before their application can be approved, including 10 signatures of students interested in forming the club, signatures from a student representative and a faculty supervisor. The student leaders behind the club application are also asked to present to administrators about what the group would add to the school district.

Erin Schulte, assistant director of communications for Olathe Public Schools, told Newsweek on Thursday that the district considers the Equal Access Act before reviewing any school club application.

The federal law, according to the Department of Education, "ensures that non-curricular student groups are afforded the same access" as other, similar student-initiated clubs. Such non-curricular groups cannot be denied by public schools because of the club's "religions, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech" used at the group's meetings.

"In other words, if the school allows one student-initiated club, it allows all—providing the application process is completed and the group meets the guidelines for their recognition," Schulte said in an email to Newsweek.

"There are a wide variety of different extra-curricular clubs at the secondary level that are centered around religions, philosophies, politics and values," Schulte added. "These clubs are voluntarily attended by students and occur outside of the regular school day. As a school district, Olathe Public Schools follows both state and federal laws related to student groups."

TST, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity, says that its mission is to "encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate for practical common sense" and "oppose injustice," according to the organization's website. The temple also says that it does not worship Satan or believe in the devil's existence.

"The first [After School Satan Club]-affiliated High School Satan Club is debuting in Kansas!" TST wrote in a post to X on Tuesday. "This student-led club has completed all the required steps to be an officially registered on-campus student club and will operate alongside other student-led religious clubs."

Other After School Satan Clubs have been established across the country. According to the TST website, such clubs are not intended to convert children to "Satanism" but instead offer "a safe and inclusive alternative to the religious clubs that use threats of eternal damnation to convert school children to their belief system."

Update 12/28/23, 2:40 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from an Olathe Public Schools official.