Whitworth University’s new hiring policy will allow LGBTQ faculty

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn(RNS) — 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.
“After careful consideration of this broad input, the board voted yesterday to resolutely 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,” the statement from Whitworth President Scott McQuilkin and Board Chair Brian Kirkpatrick said.
The vast majority of Christian schools have excluded LGBTQ faculty even as some — m …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]