Class Action Over Mandatory Meditation, 'Hindu Rituals' In Chicago Public School Proceeds

CHICAGO — Thousands of former Chicago Public Schools students can join a class action lawsuit against the school board, city and David Lynch's nonprofit over the defunct "Quiet Time" transcendental meditation program.

The suit alleges that that the program, organized by the David Lynch Foundation for World Peace in partnership with CPS and the University of Chicago violated the constitutional rights of minor students by incorporating Hindu religious rituals into public schools.

Lead plaintiff Kaya Hudgins, now 21, said she was pressured to sign a consent form and nondisclosure agreement about the program. She said representatives of the David Lynch Foundation specifically told students not to tell their parents about it if they were religious.

Hudgins, a practicing Muslim at the time, said she was taken to a darkened room for a private Hindu "Puja" ceremony, during which she was given a mantra and told not to discuss it with anyone. After learning some of her classmates' mantras, she began doing research on the internet and learned that they were the names of Hindu gods.

"My classmates and I were very hurt to learn how the school and the instructor had us participating in a religious practice without even knowing it," Hudgins said in a sworn declaration.

The transcendental meditation, or TM, program contradicted her Islamic beliefs, she testified, but when she complained to a teacher about not wanting to take part in it, she was sent to the dean's office.

"This was extremely offensive and very confusing. The picture of the man at the Puja ceremony bothered me as a Muslim because Muslims are not to worship men. It made me feel guilty and sinful," Hudgins said. "As a Muslim, I was supposed to pray five times a day. Although the school made me take time away from class to practice in TM, it would not allow me to take time away from class for any of those five daily prayers"

According to sworn statements, students were rewarded with pizza and snacks when they acted as "ambassadors" for the program and sent to the dean's office if they declined to participate. Some were even allegedly offered cash.

Although the consent form Hudgins signed when she was 16 describes TM as an "optional" activity, she testified that students were told that they would be disciplined if they declined to take part in the program, which consisted of two 15-minute periods a day.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, in a ruling last month, certified a class of the approximately 3,000 students who took part in the program between 2015 and 2019 and who turned 18 after Jan. 13, 2021.

Kennelly dismissed arguments by CPS and the David Lynch Foundation that Hudgins was not a suitable class representative, describing their criticism of her agreement with her attorneys as a "wild overstatement" and their efforts to discredit her as bordering on "attempted character assassination."

"The defendants have otherwise gone to great lengths in their attempt to undermine Hudgins's credibility and her adequacy to represent the class in this litigation. The Court is similarly unpersuaded," Kennelly said.

John Mauck, a partner in the firm Mauck and Baker, specializes in religious freedom cases. He represented Hodkins and is one of the attorneys the judge appointed to represent the class.

“Not only were these minor school children coerced by Chicago Public Schools teachers into signing a document they had no business signing," Mauck said in a statement. "They were duped into practicing Hindu rituals and Transcendental Meditation during class time and instructed to hide their mandated participation in them from their parents.”

Instructions from Bogan's assistant principal informed teachers that students may "read, draw, or close their eyes" during the Quiet Time period.

The class certifications in Hudgins' case follows the settlement of a similar lawsuit filed by former student Amontae Williams, who first sued the district in August 2020.

The judge denied class action status for his case due to the wording of his agreement with Mauck and Baker but allowed his constitutional claims to proceed. Williams' case was scheduled to go to trial in October 2023 but the school district that month approved a $165,000 settlement to resolve it.

Another plaintiff, CPS student Mariyah Green, was awarded a $150,000 judgment from the school district and the foundation in October 2023.

At the time, a CPS spokesperson said the district maintained that the program did not violate any student's constitutional rights and that it did not admit any liability when it agreed to pay $75,000. The other half of the money was covered by the David Lynch Foundation.

After a couple years of trialing the program with smaller groups of students, the Quiet Time program was implemented schoolwide at several high schools starting in the 2018-19 school year.

An October 2018 application from University of Chicago researchers asserted that preliminary results from the first year of the program showed a 45 percent reduction in arrests among high school students chosen for the meditation group compared to those assigned to control groups.

"Although this is a preliminary look at the data based on less than half the full study sample, we find these initial results extremely encouraging," it said.

In September 2019, a CPS attorney contacted a dean of Maharishi University to notify him that the district's agreement expired in June 2018 and the district would only continue partnering with the transcendental meditation organization "if the ceremony component is removed from the program."

A memorandum of understanding between the foundation, the school district and Bogan's administration called for the foundation to "provide parent permission slips."

But according to testimony from students, parents did not provide their informed consent for the program.

A letter from the principal of Bogan High School informed parents that the program would continue for the 2019-20 school year, although it ended up getting discontinued.

Transcendental meditation, according to Principal Alahrie Aziz-Sims' letter, is non-religious and meditation is voluntary.

"If you wish for your child to enjoy the benefits of the meditation practices there is nothing more you need to do," Aziz-Sims told parents. "Please only return the attached form if you do not wish for your child to participate in TM."