Shaming Christian Colleges

Liberty University

by Penna Dexter: We’re hearing a lot lately about the need for educational institutions to comply with Title IX of the United States Education Code. This part of law, which dates back to 1972, prohibits discrimination based on sex. In order to receive federal funds of any sort schools must abide by it. Over the years colleges and universities have figured out how to comply. But, lately many faith-based institutions of higher learning find they can no longer do so without violating the religious beliefs upon which they were founded and on which they stand. That’s because the U.S. Department of Education has changed the definition of the word sex, expanding it to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

The law allows religious colleges and universities to request and obtain exemptions from this law. They have been doing so in areas including student admission and housing and also employment. Recently, there’s been a flurry of requests for exemptions from Title IX as schools face new demands to embrace gender-free bathrooms and sports teams.

It’s no surprise there’s been an uptick in requests for exemptions from laws mandating that schools deny the biblical and biological reality that men and women are different. The Human Rights Campaign got nervous about it. They do that when they fail to attain full participation in their gender blended utopia. The HRC wanted the list of schools who have received these exemptions made public. They’ve been pestering the Administration to do this and they got their wish this month.

So the Department of Education launched a website that lists the colleges and universities — more than 200 of them — that sought exemptions to the Title IX requirements along with all correspondence with the colleges regarding their requests. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins calls it a “’Shame List’ of anyone who asked to be excused from an ideology that the American College of Pediatricians calls ‘child abuse’.”

The Left praised the move. HRC President Chad Griffin said, “We commend the Department of Education for answering our call for greater transparency and helping to ensure no student unknowingly enrolls in a school that intends to discriminate against them.” He said, “faith should never be used as a guise for discrimination.”

The word discrimination can have an exclusionary feel. But colleges choose. They must. The First Amendment protects the right of a religious organization to choose students, employees, and make binding rules and policies based upon its faith principles.

Eight senators, including Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, also expressed concern about an uptick in exemption requests. They sent a letter to then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan in December noting “the alarming and growing trend of schools quietly seeking the right to discriminate against LGBT students, and not disclosing that information publicly.”

Not surprisingly, the ‘shame list’ has already generated negative responses from transgender individuals and groups like Campus Pride.

Christian colleges should be protected, not shamed.
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Penna Dexter is a radio talk show host heard on numerous stations via the Point of View Network endorsed by Dr. Bill Smith, Editor, ARRA News Service

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