
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 20, 1994                   TAG: 9407200085
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TECH TO LET EVANGELIST SPEAK - OFF FIELD

A traveling evangelist who sued Virginia Tech two years ago because the university wouldn't allow him to preach on its drill field has won a partial victory.

The university has agreed to let James G. Gilles speak on campus at any of these high-traffic locations: Shultz Dining Hall, Dietrich Dining Hall or Henderson Lawn.

Jonathan Rogers, a Roanoke attorney working on the case, said the 500-yard drill field - which is the center of the university's activities - wasn't an option because university attorneys said it soon would be closed for repairs and be off-limits to any activities.

Rogers said Gilles is a fundamentalist born-again preacher who has overcome a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Since August 1982, he has preached at more than 250 university campuses in 42 states and five countries.

The complaint filed in 1992 said Gilles doesn't use any amplification equipment, but that doesn't mean he isn't loud.

Rogers said Gilles attracts crowds when he speaks by shouting such phrases as "You're all sinners" or "You're following Satan."

Gilles first came to Virginia Tech to preach in the late 1980s, according to the suit.

He was speaking to a crowd of about 100 to 200 people on the drill field when mounted police told him to stop or face criminal charges. Tech officials told Gilles that preaching was allowed only in its amphitheater.

Gilles became upset because the amphitheater is located on the west side of campus away from academic buildings and residence halls.

In 1988, Gilles called Roland Wheeler, Tech's director of university services, and asked permission to preach on the drill field. He was again refused.

He tried again in 1992, and decided to file suit in federal court when he was met with the same result.

Rogers said that the suit includes a bigger issue than Gilles' right to preach on the drill field. The self-employed preacher also is challenging a university policy that requires him to get sponsorship from a student group or university official before he can speak anywhere on campus.

That issue wasn't part of the settlement filed this week and will be decided by U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser, Rogers said.

by CNB