Here is Yonat Shimron at Religion News Service:
Whitworth University, a Christian school affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has revised its policies to allow for the hiring of LGBTQ faculty and to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination statement.
In so doing, it joins a sliver of Christian colleges and universities that have bucked a largely sturdy resistance to hiring married gay faculty. Last year, Eastern University, a Christian school affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA, made a similar change to its hiring policy.
Whitworth, which is located in Spokane, Washington, and last academic year had an enrollment of 2,500 students, announced the change on Thursday (June 29), following a year-long study. The school requires faculty to be Christian, but has hired non-evangelicals and Catholics, too.
Whitworth University, a Christian school affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has revised its policies to allow for the hiring of LGBTQ faculty and to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination statement.
In so doing, it joins a sliver of Christian colleges and universities that have bucked a largely sturdy resistance to hiring married gay faculty. Last year, Eastern University, a Christian school affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA, made a similar change to its hiring policy.
Whitworth, which is located in Spokane, Washington, and last academic year had an enrollment of 2,500 students, announced the change on Thursday (June 29), following a year-long study. The school requires faculty to be Christian, but has hired non-evangelicals and Catholics, too.
And this:
Whitworth’s president and faculty declined to answer questions about the policy change.
The school is a “collaborative partner” with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, the largest association of Christian schools. The CCCU requires member schools to uphold traditional Christian marriage between a man and a woman. Last year, it placed Eastern University on hiatus after it announced that it would allow the hiring of faculty in same-sex marriages and add sexual orientation to its list of protected classes.
Since Whitworth is a partner and not a member, it was not clear if it would be allowed to continue its partnership with the CCCU. The CCCU did not respond to reporter’s inquiries.
Read the entire piece here.
It was great news on the first page of our paper. Especially welcome news on the same day that the Supreme Court ruled that a hypothetical case had more rights than the LGBTQ community.