University of Nebraska apologizes for ‘drag Mass,’ investigates controversial performance
Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska (pictured in St. Peter’s Square in 2019) criticized the University of Nebraska for allowing a student to mock the Mass in a drag show. | Credit: Daniel IbaƱez/CNA
By Daniel Payne
CNA Staff, Aug 8, 2025 / 13:08 pm
The University of Nebraska has officially apologized for sanctioning a profane “drag” performance that mocked the Catholic Mass earlier this year, with the school undertaking an investigation into the incident after Catholic outcry against it.
Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, publicly criticized the so-called “drag Mass” in June, calling it “a blatant public display of faith-based discrimination.”
The event was put on in April by music doctoral student Joseph Willette, who claimed the performance was meant to “bridge the gap between queerness and spirituality.”
The demonstration “imitated various parts of the Mass, including the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.
On Aug. 8 the bishop said in a public statement that he had met with University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold and other leaders of the university after the incident. The university told the prelate that an “investigation into the matter was already underway.”
Conley wrote that University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Chancellor Rodney Bennett subsequently sent a follow-up letter in which the administrator told the bishop: “We regret deeply that the matter we met to discuss has caused disruption, and we sincerely apologize.”
The university will “fully embrace the opportunity this incident has prompted to consider carefully how we educate members of our community about the impact individual acts may have on people and communities — both positively and negatively, and whether intended or inadvertent,” Bennett wrote, according to Conley.
In his Aug. 8 letter Conley said the school was also establishing a university advisory group meant to reduce the likelihood of such incidents occurring in the future.
It is unclear if the university has concluded its investigation into the event or if the inquiry is still ongoing. The school did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Aug. 8.
The school’s President’s Advisory Roundtable on Community Engagement will help advise the school on “addressing sensitive and often emotional matters for which there are strong convictions.”
Representatives from the local Catholic community will be included on the panel, Conley said.
In addition to backlash from the bishop’s office, state lawmakers also reportedly criticized the performance.
Nebraska Sen. Dan Lonowski told the higher education news website the College Fix that he and a dozen colleagues wrote to the university condemning the display.
Lonowski, a Catholic, told the Fix that the performance “[did] not appear to advance music nor faith in any manner.” Lonowski said the university confirmed that it was undertaking an investigation.
Conley, meanwhile, expressed hope that the school was apologizing not just for the controversy surrounding the incident but “for the substance of the incident itself.”
“On behalf of Catholics and all people of faith, I would like to see a more concrete commitment from the university to provide training and education on why this behavior is offensive to Catholics,” the bishop wrote.
Mocking the Eucharist, Conley said, “should never be an action that is rewarded with a degree, but instead should be condemned for its ignorance and evil.”
