It's no lie that Eastern University professors and staff are some of the kindest individuals, but what I want to know is, how are they really being treated? It took some digging around, but EU's Political Activism Club collaborated with Refuge, Eastern's LGBTQ+ Alliance to find ways to resolve this issue. According to the Final Task Force Report:
"Social Work proposal begins with these words: “Our current handbooks and equal opportunity statements have language that does not reflect current research and knowledge of human sexuality, nor the recent change in the legal system concerning same sex marriage, and thus can be perceived as discriminatory. This has serious implications for accreditation in social work and in the future may impact other accredited programs as well as state and federal funding for students and programs.”
It also goes on to say that the Social Work Program will be under review in 2017. The Possibility of The Social Work Department losing accreditation holds a huge threat to the legitimacy of diplomas and even future attendance. The report also goes on to explain:
"Programmatically, Eastern is a community that has invested deeply in professional disciplines that train students to enter the healing professions (nursing, counseling, education, social work, etc.). This is an essential part of students' understanding of the nature of Faith, Reason, and Justice which cannot easily be surrendered without losing much of the University's missional identity. Yet the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage threatens to tighten non-discrimination standards for accrediting agencies of some of these programs. The possible loss of these programs, in addition to loss of federal funding, are added anxieties facing the community. Faculty are ready and willing to study the signs and propose actions".
This means that Teachers who identify as LGBTQ+ cannot be out or open to Eastern's administration. Eastern University is an inclusive and welcoming community for all races, genders, sexual orientations, and denominations--so why is it different for those that are educating us? The teachers I look up to and confide in are people that I connect with and trust. So, it can be really unwelcoming and discouraging to not have an openly LGBTQ+ professor or staff member I can talk with. We, as a student body and community must do something about this, it's how God's love is going to shine. If you are interested in learning more follow Refuge and EU's Political Activism Club on Facebook. Spread the word and remember, we wouldn't be Eastern if we didn't care about Faith, Reason, and JUSTICE, for all people.
