A bill pending in the California legislature seeks to strip faith-based
colleges and universities of the centuries-old tradition of
interweaving academics with religious doctrine. SB 1146 would force
Christian schools to relinquish their fidelity to Scripture as a
distinguishing characteristic of their institutions or risk lawsuits for
religious and sexual discrimination.
The state’s Equity in Higher Education Act (EHEA) prohibits
discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and
religion. The new bill removes its exemption for faith-based schools.
State Sen. Ricardo Lara, a Democrat, authored the bill and called the
exemption a “loophole” and a “license to discriminate.” If passed, only
seminaries would be eligible for the exemption.
Opponents argue the impetus for drafting SB 1146 is a baseless
presumption of wide-spread and systemic discrimination against LGBT
students on Christian campuses. The emotionally charged allegation
stands in contrast to the bill’s threat to constitutionally protected
religious liberty and indicates an ignorance of the role faith-based
schools play in a pluralistic society.
“We are not willing to forego our biblical and covenantal convictions
regardless of what laws are passed,” William Jessup University President
John Jackson told me. “Jessup continues to believe we are to submit to
Scripture and operate in accordance with the Constitution of the United
States and the Bill of Rights that includes the First Amendment
providing for freedom of press, association, and religion.”
Another provision of the California bill would require schools
receiving a Title IX waiver to disclose that information to the
California Student Aid Commission, students, and staff. Kristen Soares,
president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and
Universities, supports transparency but continues to press for the
exemption. Thirty-four of the 78 schools AICCU represents would be
affected by the bill should it become law.
SB 1146 passed the state Senate on May 26. The state Assembly postponed
its vote until next week—an encouraging sign, Soares said. She met with
Lara on June 10 in an ongoing effort to convince the senator to amend
the bill to keep the exemption in place for all faith-based schools. She
said convincing Lara, who is gay, of the significant role religious
freedom plays in the operation and mission of faith-based schools has
been her main talking point.
“[Religion] is infused in the entire institution. You can’t parse it
out,” Soares said. “You can’t draw a line down the middle and say this
part is religious and this is not.”
According to Soares, Lara said he does not want his legislation to
penalize students who want to attend faith-based schools. But SB 1146
does just that by denying schools their constitutionally afforded right
to inextricably link academics and doctrine, she said. The bill also
conflicts with the guaranteed free exercise of religion afforded by the
California and U.S. constitutions.
“There’s a disconnect,” said Lee Wilhite, a Biola University spokesman.
“To deny students the opportunity to come to a distinctly faith-based
school—that’s not right.”
According to a five-page statement drafted by Biola, SB 1146 “would
change the face of Christian higher education in California as we know
it today.”
The bill is a solution in search of a problem, Wilhite said.
But Lara cites as evidence to the contrary an increase in the number of
universities and colleges requesting exemption from Title IX compliance
in the past three years. In 2014, President Barack Obama drastically
altered the meaning of the 1972 federal legislation prohibiting
sex-based discrimination by any school receiving federal funding. The
term “sex,” according to the Obama administration, now includes gender
identity. Unable to affirm that interpretation, Christian schools across
the nation that had not requested a Title IX waiver in decades sought
new relief.
Eighteen months after applying for its first exemption in 31 years,
Biola University is still waiting on a response from the U.S. Department
of Education. Wilhite said Biola wants the freedom to care for all
students as the Bible, not the U.S. Department of Education, dictates.
Biola students who are same-sex attracted and committed to living by
the school’s biblical position on human sexuality meet with designated
staff members who support students in those efforts, Wilhite said.
About 420 miles to the north, WJU students are similarly exhorted to
live according to the biblical covenant they voluntarily sign at
admittance.
“When we have students who struggle with any issue, including human
sexuality, we humbly and with great grace encourage our students to live
in submission to the word of God under the power of the Holy Spirit,”
Jackson said.
Courtesy: WORLD News Service
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