East Carolina University officials are telling students to ignore the instructions from a chemistry professor to not mention God at all in their departmental graduation ceremony.

Assistant Professor Eli Hvastkovs sent an e-mail to his students to prepare a “family friendly” statement for the department’s graduation event but that God was prohibited.

“I’ve had some submissions that needed to be edited. so [sic] here are some guidelines,” Hvastkovs wrote. “1. You can’t thank God. I’m sorry about this – and I don’t want to have to outline the reasons why.”

The e-mail was published by the website Campus Reform drawing a response from the school that the e-mail was not authorized by ECU.

ECU Provost Dr. Marilyn Sheerer wrote to students saying that religious references “of any type will not be restricted.”