Dragged Out: ‘No Proof’ UNL Keeping Its Promise to Bishop Conley One Year After Grad Student’s Profane ‘Mass’

by Ken Shepherd

After a University of Nebraska, Lincoln grad student’s sacrilegious drag “Mass” last April met with condemnation from the local Catholic bishop, then-UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett promised the formation of a presidential advisory commission to address concerns of anti-Catholicism raised by the stunt. Yet eight months after that pledge was made, there’s no evidence the commission exists on paper, let alone in reality.

There is “[n]o paper trail, no proof it exists or that there was even a meeting,” a high-ranking administrative official for the university told The Plains Sentinel on background.

The official’s comment comes in the wake of reporting earlier this month by The College Fix that University of Nebraska officials were insisting the state’s Personal Privacy Protection Act forbids the university from disclosing the names of commission members.

After “multiple requests” to University of Nebraska officials in September 2025 went “ignored,” The College Fix said it filed a formal public-record request, which resulted in Associate General Counsel Molly McCleery disclosing that “no bylaws exist” for the commission “nor does a sample application form” to join it.

McCleery declined to furnish a member list, citing the Personal Privacy Protection Act, The College Fix reported.

The Plains Sentinel reached out to the university, asking for a list of the committee members or proof that the committee existed and had met. The university declined to produce a list and provided only a short statement.

“The University of Nebraska confirms that members of the President’s Advisory Roundtable on Community Engagement have met,” a spokesperson said. “We are grateful for the members of the roundtable and the perspectives they’ve shared.”

Drag Performance Launched Controversy

Last April, UNL doctoral student Joseph Willette performed a drag “mass” he said was part of “the culmination of [his] past couple of years studying music composition as well as gender, sexuality, and queer communities.”

“At the core of this work lies the juxtaposition of the holy and the profane, the sacred and the sinful,” he said.

A description of the full performance on YouTube states that the goal of the performance was to “bridge the gap between queerness and spirituality.”

“Mass of Perpetual Indulgence for chamber orchestra, electronics, soprano solo, and drag performer was written to bridge the gap between queerness and spirituality, to sanctify queer people and celebrate our lives and communities,” it stated. “Amalgamating musical styles ranging from disco to opera, art song to EDM, this appropriation of the traditional Mass blurs the lines between the sacred and the profane.”

According to UNL’s website, Willette earned a doctorate of musical arts in composition following his performance.

His performance and subsequent doctorate from the university prompted a backlash, including from Bishop Conley, who called it a “blatant public display of faith-based discrimination.”

NU Promised Action

In a July 2025 letter to the Diocese of Lincoln, Bishop James Conley, Bennett promised that a commissioned President’s Advisory Roundtable on Community Engagement that was “comprised of well-respected individuals across the state of Nebraska and our country” was “being finalized” and would be up “operational by the end of the summer.”

It is unclear what, if any, impacts Bennett’s November no-confidence vote by the UNL Faculty Senate and resignation two months later may have had on the commission’s formation, but as a presidential advisory panel, it would chiefly report to Jeffrey Gold, the University of Nebraska system’s president.

For his part, in an August 8 letter to Bennett, Bishop Conley said he applauded “President Gold, Chancellor Bennett and the regents for the invitation to dialogue on this situation, the University’s apology for the offense it has caused, and the creation of the advisory roundtable to advise on how to handle similar situations should they arise in the future.”

“These are all positive steps forward,” Conley said, adding he expected to check in six months later to ask Gold “for an update on what has been accomplished with regard to the proposed initiatives.”

Reached by email for comment, the Diocese of Lincoln told The Plains Sentinel it expects a progress report from UNL officials shortly.

“The only thing I would say at this time is we have an upcoming meeting with the University in the near future to get an update on their progress,” a spokesman for the Diocese of Lincoln said.

The Plains Sentinel also emailed UNL’s Newman Center-St. Thomas Aquinas Church for comment, but did not receive a response by publication deadline.

Ken Shepherd is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. He is a former editor at Fox News Digital and the Washington Times.