- M. O. Stevens
The president of a tiny Christian university in Northeast Portland is confused. Back in February, he asked the federal government for formal permission to deny access to transgender students, and he hasn’t heard back—even though dozens of other schools have gotten the same permission.
“I don’t understand why it’s taken so long,” Multnomah University President G. Craig Williford says. “Why are they being selective?”
Ironic, sure, but it’s good to hear from Williford. Last week and the week before, we were calling and e-mailing Multnomah with questions about the school’s application for a gender-based Title IX exemption—essentially a federal sanction to discriminate against transgender people. All we got back was a polite “no comment” so we weren’t able to include the school’s side in our story.
But today, Williford gave us a ring in response to some more questions. He’s the person who sent the US Dept. of Education a request for the gender-based exemption earlier this year. In the days since the Mercury reported on the request (KPTV did a piece, too), the school’s been the subject of a small protest, and heard from people who have “reacted very negatively,” Williford says.
In response to all that, Williford sent out an email to university supporters last week explaining the school’s position and handling of the matter. Here’s part of it:
Last week a local news channel ran a feature story on our exemption request and accused MU of discrimination. This week a local online newspaper ran an article following this same argument. We have chosen not respond to these accusations. None of this is a surprise to MU leadership. We anticipated and have prepared for these events.
Tomorrow, Saturday December 12, 2015, at 1 pm a protest rally will be held on public areas next to our campus which will likely include local reporters. Communication experts tell us that when these events occur it is best practice to have only one person speak on behalf of the university. Having one person speak to reporters, comment on social media and in other public venues allows trained university personnel with complete information to wisely communicate responses which reflect our mission and values.
The first inaccuracy in Williford’s statement is that we’re only an online newspaper. (He apologized.) The second comes a bit later, when Williford writes to supporters that “Multnomah University does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.”
What Williford means, he says, is that Multnomah doesn’t shunt people out the door if they’re gay. The school has students today that are openly gay, he says, and faculty’s mostly okay with that. At Multnomah, gay, lesbian, and straight students are all required to practice abstinence and a lot of other behavioral prohibitions (no vaping!). If you’re not married, Multnomah’s not going to be cool with your sex life no matter who it’s with.
That’s precisely where the discrimination comes in. Gay student at Multnomah? Fine (kind of). Gay married student at Multnomah? You’ll be asked to leave. “It is our deeply held religious belief that we would have to ask the student to step away,” Williford says. “Yes, you could call it discriminating on the basis of same-sex marriage.” Of course, discriminating on the basis of same-sex marriage is one way of discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
This is perfectly fine with the Department of Education, by the way. Since 1989, the federal government has given Multnomah the okay to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and has no problem supplying federal student aid to people who enroll at the school. That’s because of a Title IX provision that allows exemptions to religious schools. Williford thinks that permissions given in 1989 might apply to discriminating against transgender students, too. He wants to be safe, though, which is why he applied for a formal exemption earlier this year.
How do transgender students fare at Multnomah? It hasn’t really come up, Williford says, but it’s clear they’d be held to a different standard.
“We will admit students who are gay and lesbian,” Williford says. “We will look at transgender students on an individual basis.”
“students FARE”
Right! Fixed! Thanks.
In talking with Craig Williford a number of times it’s clear to me that transgender students that are Christian and willing to work with the community will be welcomed on or off-campus. So what’s with the quote at the end? Seems cut off or missing clarification that I know Craig has made everytime I’ve talked with him. Christian transgender students are welcome, and as with all students, will be treated as individuals.
I think the school’s human sexuality policy makes that clear: https://www.multnomah.edu/information/policies-reports/human-sexuality-policy/
I can understand journalistic concerns, but to clearly misrepresent the words of a President and school that are doing their gosh darned best to both love people and hold to their convictions is so sad. I can tell you that I trust MU would never misrepresent the Portland Mercury like this, even if we disagree.
As a student who was becoming increasingly vocal about the transgender elements in my identity (“was” because I graduated), there is not a single instance that I can ever recall that would ever make me use any negative words to describe the situation or the school in regards to this issue. Everyone was loving and kind and gracious, students and faculty alike. Worst case scenario was they didn’t understand it at all, but that was followed by gracious listening so they would.
At MU you’ll find some of the best listeners in the world, regardless of what you believe. You’ll find the most gracious people, regardless of how you behave. I remember students breaking fundamental policies, and the gentle responses from the staff and faculty.
It’s sad to see people assume there will be a with hunt by the school to get LGBT students, so they go on a witch hunt themselves to smear and destroy a good school. My LGBT friends that attended MU had no complaints either. To watch people destroy something (like a school) they clearly do not understand hurts because I thought fighting such thinking was the heart of the LGBT movement 🙁
Multnomah listens to people they disagree with but it seems the Portland Mercury does not…
This article is nothing more than a hack job to promote one certain ideology, political correctness. Its too bad people like Dirk Vanderhart and the Portland Mercury will never see the truth pertaining to MU and LGBT policy and treatment. Because such as these only see what is conveniently fashionable to their politically correct ideology. How sad, sad indeed.