The Presbyterian Church (USA) approved ordaining practicing homosexuals in 2010. Now, the PCUSA-affiliated Whitworth University has joined the small number of Christian colleges welcoming gay faculty and adding “sexual orientation” to its nondiscrimination policy.
“Aligning our hiring policy language with our practice achieves integrity in this area,” said a June 29 statement that followed a yearlong study and media coverage of a professor who had taught at Whitworth for years before revealing in 2017 that she is a lesbian who lived a celibate life before resigning from the school.
Ironically, the former president of the university, Beck Taylor, now leads Samford University, a Baptist school in Birmingham, Ala., where he has taken the opposite path against full LGBTQ inclusion.
Founded in 1890, the 2,500-student Whitworth University has promoted a “generous orthodoxy” and made LGBTQ students welcome while avoiding making a “formal statement” on sexuality policies. The new statement follows a 15-month process that began with the board of trustees’ decision to explore the issue by creating an advisory committee that sought input from faculty, staff, students, other schools and lawyers specializing in employment and constitutional law.
Like many schools, Whitworth has struggled to please students, faculty and donors as it navigated the culture wars.
Trustees said the decision would “uphold the Christ-centered commitments required of Whitworth staff and faculty; safeguard the campus environment to allow for civil discourse on topics about which faithful Christians disagree, including God’s design for sexual expression; and add ‘sexual orientation’ to the university’s list of protected classes, which already includes color, gender, ethnicity, social or economic class and nationality.”
Like many schools, Whitworth has struggled to please students, faculty and donors as it navigated the culture wars while welcoming “all students wherever they are on their faith journeys” and creating an ethos or respect for differences.
“In a context where all community members are recognized as beloved image bearers of God, respectful expression of diverse viewpoints can be an opportunity to live, learn and love across our differences and need not be an occasion for division, censorship or oppression,” said the school’s June statement.
Earlier this year, Whitworth drew criticism from the left for prohibiting a “Queer Church” event and from the right for rejecting a request from the MAGA-aligned political group Turning Point USA to host an on-campus event.
Previously, Taylor, president from 2010 to 2021, canceled the school’s affiliation with Planned Parenthood that allowed students to receive credit for volunteering there. Beck said Whitworth’s “limited and tangential” affiliation with the organization that some believers see as evil sent “a confusing signal to many of our constituencies.”
But Taylor also expressed support for undocumented and international students after President Trump issued his “Muslim ban” designed to keep people from some Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
Whitworth is a collaborative partner with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, which last year put Eastern University’s membership on hold after Eastern announced it would welcome LGBTQ faculty and add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination statement. It’s not yet clear how CCCU will handle Whitworth’s announcement.
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