WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The former campus minister at Wichita State University says renovations that included removing pews from Grace Memorial chapel were sought by Christians, not by Muslims.

The university received criticism recently for the chapel renovations, which included replacing pews with folding chairs. Some said they felt the changes marginalized Christians while accommodating Muslims.

The Rev. Christopher Eshelman, a United Methodist minister who served as campus minister at Wichita State in 2011 and 2012, told The Wichita Eagle that several people — including him — had the idea to make the chapel a more flexible worship space.

The family that made the chapel possible in 1964 specified that it remain open to all creeds and races.

Eshelman says Muslim students made no demands on how the space would be changed.