You are the athletic director at a major State (public) University, and the Muslim student athlete has asked to meet with you to discuss a dispute he has with his coach. The coach insists that the student athletes maintain a rigorous diet which includes eating certain meals each day. The Muslim student wishes to follow his religious conscience and fast on certain days and avoid eating some of the meals prescribed by the coach. He also eats more vegetarian diet than the high protein fare established by the coach. Before the meeting, you call the coach, and he says that although he respects the student athlete for his religious conviction, it is imperative that he eat with the team for health purposes and to maintain team morale. He is fearful that yielding to this student athlete’s religious beliefs would simply open a Pandora’s box, permitting student athletes to contrive all kinds of reasons for getting out of his strict dietary regimen. The coach also indicated that the diet was devised in conjunction with his trainer and is believed to maximize performance on the part of the student athletes. What do you say to the student athlete and coach?
