Liberty University has denied claims that it censored LGBTQ material in its psychology curriculum.
The allegation that the university had purposefully censored the
material was made by two online students who contacted a reporter from
the Richmond Times-Dispatch to report the alleged omission.
According to The Christian Examiner, the Times-Dispatch
then published an article on the allegations which said that the
university had omitted the chapters on “sexual motivation” and sexual
orientation from the textbook used in the psychology class. The students
claimed that the omission was especially significant due to the recent shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
Liberty, however, has denied that it omitted the chapters on sexuality
because it wanted to censor a discussion of LGBTQ issues. Instead, the
university says it decided to omit the material because its scope was
too broad for the purposes of the lower level class.
"We didn't want the focus of this chapter to end up being sexual
motivation, and to leave the content without adding discussion and
videos would not do justice to the topic,” stated online faculty member
Heather Elaine Medvedenko.
Jeffrey Nevid, the author of the Essentials in Psychology, the
textbook used in the class in question, said universities often omit
material based on the scope of their courses, and that he did not find
Liberty’s omission of the chapters on sexuality to have any ulterior
motive.
"Instructors often customize text materials to meet their instructional
needs," Nevid said. "This is common practice. My text is organized in
modules so that instructors can select the modules they use in the
classroom.”
In responding to the allegation, Liberty’s provost office also noted
that the school offers higher level psychology courses which do address
issues of sexuality, and although they support God’s design for
sexuality, alternate viewpoints are nevertheless presented.
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