By Hannah Schwab
HOLLAND –
Hope College recently amended its policy on human sexuality http://www.hope.edu/pr/pressreleases/content/view/full/29706 after an influential group of alumni petitioned the board of trustees to throw out its previous policy that discriminated against homosexual students.
But the new policy still discriminates against the LGBT community and now, it can also punish those who advocate for gay and lesbian students.
In 1995, Hope College adopted an institutional statement on homosexuality http://www.hope.edu/pr/pressreleases/content/view/full/27100 that said "the witness of Scripture is firm in rejecting the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior while affirming the responsibility of Christians to be fair to and accepting of persons with a homosexual orientation."
"Basically, they adopted a 'hate the sin, love the sinner' attitude," said the Rev. Don Van Hoeven, a member of the alumni group who petitioned the school to change its policy. Other members of the group include two past Hope presidents, a former Grand Valley State University president and a retired Reformed Church of America minister.
"This rule said someone could be gay as long as they didn't act gay," Van Hoeven said. "The school wanted these students to hide who they were."
Van Hoeven said while this policy was unethical, many students and faculty did not have a problem with it because they didn't know it existed.
Hope College never had to enforce the policy until October 2009, when a group of students invited screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to speak about his film, "Milk," the story of the life and death of Harvey Milk. Hope allowed Black to speak about the practice of screenwriting, but said its policy prohibited Black from "promoting homosexuality" by cancelling a roundtable discussion.
This led students and alumni to petition against the policy.
The college introduced a new policy in January 2011. It now allows students and faculty to discuss homosexuality, but students still cannot form support groups on campus: "Hope College will not recognize or support campus groups whose aim by statement, practice, or intimidation is to promote a vision of human sexuality that is contrary to this understanding of biblical teaching."
The policy also defines relationships and marriage as "between a man and a woman."
Van Hoeven takes issue with the new policy because it defines sexuality, "including longing and expression," as a gift from God. The new policy calls for "a life of chastity among the unmarried" which he feels could lead to punishment of homosexual and heterosexual couples.
"Not only does the new policy have an anti-gay description as part of its wording, but now it calls for chastity from all students," Van Hoeven said. "Because it doesn't specifically define 'expression,' students could theoretically be punished for holding hands or kissing. The college is not there to mandate students' personal lives, but now what is to stop them from going into students' dorm rooms and punishing them for what they do behind closed doors?"
Van Hoeven said the policy also worries Hope's faculty. Some are hesitant to start discussing homosexuality in their classrooms. Because the wording does not define "promotion" or "advocacy" of homosexuality, professors could be vulnerable to repercussions if they don't discuss homosexuality in a negative way.
"Faculty members are aware of this new, undefined, gray area," Van Hoeven said. "This creates a slippery slope for teachers … what is to stop a student from turning in a teacher for 'advocacy' if the teacher talks about homosexuality and the student does not agree with the 'tone' of the lecture?"
Besides the new policy, Hope President James E. Bultman has taken other steps to discriminate against the LGBT community on campus. Van Hoeven said all groups that want to host a campus event must have it preapproved by the board. Bultman formed an additional committee specifically to hear requests from the school's unrecognized gay-straight forum. This committee has become the school's first filter against the LGBT community and has rejected LGBT-related events.
According to Van Hoeven, the gay-straight forum also received an anonymous gift to support activities on campus, but Bultman sequestered the funds and because all events are rejected anyway, the group cannot use its own money.
Van Hoeven said Hope's biggest defense for its stance against homosexuality is that it is a Christian liberal arts college founded on the same basis as the Reformed Church in America. The school's handbook http://www.hope.edu/student/development/policies/handbook/Discrimination and Grievance specifies that it forbids discrimination "against an individual based on race, ethnicity, culture or national origin."
Yet, Calvin College in Grand Rapids, which also is a Christian college, lists in its handbook http://www.calvin.edu/student-life/forms-policies/pdf/student-hdbk.pdf that it prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (as well as many other characteristics).
Van Hoeven said if this policy stands, students will think twice about applying or attending Hope College. It is not only a way to filter out LGBT students, bit it may also turn away other students as well.
While this policy can damage Hope College's reputation, Van Hoeven believes it can send a mixed message about West Michigan and the city of Holland. The area is known to be mostly conservative, but citizens do support gay rights. The local Grace Episcopal Church hosts PFLAG meetings, and residents formed Holland is Ready http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holland-Is-Ready/318512633596 and Hope is Ready http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hope-is-Ready/115768245121189, two groups that support gay rights.
Van Hoeven said the alumni group is determined to have this new policy removed. When he was a Hope student in the 1950s, he said the school never persecuted students for being gay. He does not want it to be known as a place of discrimination.
