During the university’s commencement ceremony on Sunday, graduating students from Seattle Pacific University gave interim president Pete Menjares a rainbow pride flag instead of a handshake in a show of resistance.
Last month, the Board of Trustees of SPU, a Christian educational institution affiliated with the Free Methodist Church USA, voted to maintain a policy prohibiting LGBTQ+ people from being hired.
The university’reserves the right to prefer employees or prospective employees on the basis of religion,’ according to its non-discrimination policy.
Employees are expected to follow particular religious views, including refraining from same-sex sexual activity, extramarital sex, and cohabiting before marriage, according to the university.
Cedric Davis, the board’s chair, said the decision was in keeping with the school’s goal as a Methodist university.
‘While the Board made a decision that it believed was most in line with the university’s mission and Statement of Faith, the Board chose to have SPU remain in communion with its founding denomination, the Free Methodist Church USA, as a core part of its historical identity as a Christian university,’ Davis said last month in a statement.
Any educational institution that receives federal funds is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sex or sexual orientation under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
However, the federal legislation has a religious exemption, and former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna believes SPU is within its rights to reject LGBTQ+ instructors as a religious university.
McKenna told KIRO News Radio that it’s permissible because Seattle Pacific University is a religious organization.
Students have been protesting the board’s decision for weeks, including staging a sit-in outside Menjares’ office on May 24, yelling “we want homosexual teachers!” while wearing rainbow masks and brandishing posters reading “Jesus is ashamed.”
The sit-in protests are anticipated to last until July 1, the deadline set by organizers for the board to reconsider its decision before legal action is taken.
The flag protest, according to SPU student and organizer Chloe Guillot, is just the beginning, and students will ‘not stop until the policy changes.’
‘SPU taught us to speak up for what we believe in, and I think holding a graduation demonstration is a perfect summation of everything we’ve learned here, and we’re putting it into action,’ Guillot told King5.com.
Menjares issued a statement on Monday in response to the protests, saying that he recognized students’ right to express themselves.
‘It was a fantastic day to commemorate our grads.’ ‘Those who took the time to send me a flag demonstrated how they felt, and I appreciate their viewpoint,’ according to the statement.