Will school board member swear oath of office on Bible or ‘One Fish, Two Fish’?

The first big question Ben Blankley will face as a Wichita school board member is happening even before he takes the ceremonial oath of office before his first meeting Monday:

Which book will he choose?

Blankley, who was elected in November to represent District 1 on the school board, posed a question on his personal Facebook page Saturday:

“So Monday night is the ceremonial Oath of Office, and my first school board meeting,” he wrote.

“When I took the official oath at the courthouse, I didn’t swear on a book. So, friends, based on what you know of me, what book would you pick for me to swear on?”

Many elected officials swear on a Bible when taking their oath of office, but it is not required.

At Monday’s ceremonial swearing-in, board members can take the oath while resting their hands on any book they choose.

Suggestions posted on Blankley’s page so far have included Dr. Seuss’ “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,” a nod to his 2-year-old son, Antonio, and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” a comedy science-fiction series by Douglas Adams.

In the Facebook thread, Blankley, an engineer at Spirit AeroSystems, suggested the “Fundamentals of Astrodynamics” textbook.

Other suggestions included “A Wrinkle in Time,” a middle school science textbook, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” “Trump: The Art of the Deal” and “Make Trouble,” a sly manifesto that director John Waters delivered as a graduation speech in 2015.

A few friends suggested Blankley take the oath of office resting his hand on the collected works of William Shakespeare. Blankley is a board member for the Wichita Shakespeare Company.

Other suggestions: a biography of Horace Mann, an early American education reformer; “Robert’s Rules of Order”; “Everyone Poops”; and “any book banned in school libraries.”

Blankley said Monday afternoon that he hadn’t yet decided which book to use for his swearing-in, but that he put “Robert’s Rules,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” and the astrodynamics text in his bag to take to the meeting

“Maybe I can just hold a stack?” he said.

A welcome reception for new school board members is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at North High School. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at the start of the board’s regular meeting at 6 p.m.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Will school board member swear oath of office on Bible or ‘One Fish, Two Fish’?."