Eastern University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU.) CCCU is an international association of Christian higher education institutions with a budget of $12 million that aims
To advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.
CCCU is in the midst of a restructuring process in which members will be able to choose between three levels of membership: Governing Membership, Associate Membership, and Collaborative Partnership. Schools that are currently affiliated with CCCU will be making a decision about their desired level of participation by July 1, 2017. Due to the type of institution that Eastern is and the programs that are offered here, Eastern is eligible to become a Governing Member or a Collaborative Partner. The level of participation that Eastern University decides to pursue will have major implications for Eastern students and faculty. This is because if Eastern's Board of Trustees chooses to adopt the recommendations that Eastern's Human Sexuality Task Force put forward for consideration to adopt neutral language and LGBT+ inclusive hiring policies, which many Eastern Students hope is on the agenda for their bi-annual meeting in May, they would be ineligible for Governing Membership and would therefore have to opt to become a Collaborative Partner or leave CCCU.
While the requirements for Governing Membership includes six criteria, Associate Membership only requires four of those criteria. The sixth criterion (that Governing Members must adhere and Associate Members don't) states:
We hold the Christian belief that human beings, male and female, are created in the image of God to flourish in community, and, as to intimate sexual relations, they are intended for persons in a marriage between one man and one woman.
A group of students at Seattle Pacific University, another CCCU-affiliated school, has recently formed the Haven Collaborative, a group that is working to raise awareness within CCCU-affiliated schools about this upcoming change in order to promote LGBT+ inclusion and affirmation. The Haven Collaborative reached out to students at Eastern and other CCCU-affiliated schools via a social media platform connected to the Gay Christian Network.
Through a series of actions, we are petitioning our university to become either (1) a collaborative partnership member of the CCCU, or (2) to leave the CCCU unless the CCCU will change its current non-affirming policies. We would like to invite you to join our shared cause, and participate in the same or similar actions to increase awareness for all of us, as well as encourage your specific schools to be more inclusive and affirming.
In addition to their efforts to petition their school, SPU students will be raising awareness about issues that affect LGBT+ students, especially at Christian schools where there can tend to be even more animosity and less support, by participating in the national Day of Silence on April 21st.
GLSEN's Day of Silence is a student-led national event organized in thousands of schools, bringing awareness to the silencing effects of anti-LGBTQ name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBTQ behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBTQ students and those perceived to be LGBTQ.
