Most Messiah College students have a fuzzy recollection of affixing their signature to an off-green slip of card stock in Hitchcock Arena during the summer-camp blur of Welcome Week. On this card was printed the Community Covenant, a document described by the Messiah College website as "provid[ing] a biblical framework and context for our community life." Those students who perused the text of the Covenant carefully might have noticed injunctions against "such sinful practices as drunkenness, stealing, dishonesty, profanity, occult practices, sexual intercourse outside of marriage, homosexual behavior, and sexually exploitative or abusive behavior."
In recent years, changing values of the student body have provoked some students to suggest rethinking some of the prohibitory policies espoused by the Community Covenant. The failed 2003 attempt by SGA to revise the alcohol policy to allow students to drink in moderation off-campus, provided they were of legal age, is one example. Currently, as the student body tends towards greater acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people, some students wish to start dialogue aimed at reevaluating the college's prohibitory policy towards homosexuality. Although united in the purpose of making Messiah College more supportive and inclusive of LGBT students, Gavin Paul and Rob Holland represent polar ends of the debate over how best to tackle this problem. Sitting down over veggie burgers, sandwiches, and fries in the Union Café, the two discussed their reasons for holding their respective views.
Paul, to put it simply, is an activist promoting change. A senior computer science major known for his energetic demeanor, characteristic dreads, and frequent appearances in coffeehouse with various vintage keyboards, Paul said he believes the current policy is hurting the community by demeaning students with non-heterosexual orientations. In contrast, Holland is a diplomat promoting compromise. Finishing his senior year as a theology major, Holland has also been involved in theater, including last year's Godspell, and is a regular member of the chapel worship team.
Although he would like to see the words "homosexual behavior" removed from the Community Covenant, Holland said he feels that doing so too soon would only serve to alienate more conservative members of the Messiah College community who have the most to gain from being exposed to the intellectual diversity that the college fosters. "The most conservative among us have the most to gain" he remarked.
Holland said that he came to Messiah College "very conservative" and that he probably would not have enrolled if the school was openly tolerant of homosexuality. His views changed over time through various interactions during his freshman year and while working as an RA in Miller his sophomore year, Holland came out as gay to his RD, Michael Warari. Later that summer, after obtaining a position as ARD of Fry Apartments, Holland came out publically through a Facebook note, although he said that his close friends and family all knew by that point. Holland is an active Episcopalian and says that while he doesn't openly broadcast his orientation at church, those who know are accepting and have in no way hindered his involvement in ministry.
According to Holland, Messiah College is unique among Christian colleges in that it prohibits homosexual behavior on paper, but in practice does not enforce the policy. He compares the college's treatment of homosexuality to its treatment of profanity, which is also technically prohibited, but almost never openly censured. This practice appeases conservatives who might otherwise refuse to associate with the school, while allowing LGBT students a wide measure of freedom. "Gay students like myself can form their own opinion without having the administration or a group of profs shove ideas down our throats" said Holland.
Although he described numerous personal altercations with other students who did not share his views, Holland described these encounters as mutually constructive. He cannot ever recall being censured or harassed for his orientation or behavior, nor can he think of any such instance involving other students. "Gay students who survive a place like Messiah College are better for it" said Holland. He said that Residence Life has been reluctant to define what exactly constitutes "homosexual behavior," although they did request that he refrain from dating while he worked as an ARD. Out of respect for his superiors, Holland honored that request.
Holland said he feels that the current practice accomplishes the purpose of promoting civil dialogue with as many students as possible without pigeonholing the school as conservative or liberal. Although he personally disagrees with the wording of the Community Covenant, he said that changing the policy would only serve to ideologically polarize the community. Holland prefers to confront the issue through personal interaction rather than policy. As a student of theology who has spent many years researching and personally contemplating homosexuality, Holland urges any student struggling with the issue personally or philosophically to contact him. "This issue is rarely resolved alone and in the dark" he said.
Unlike Holland, Paul, who recently came out as bisexual, believes that the college needs to change its policy before students can make meaningful decisions about sexuality. He said that so long as the official language invalidates a non-heterosexual lifestyle, no real progress can occur. Paul named views on homosexuality as "one of the few limits we have on intellectual freedom" stating that faculty who disagree with the school's stance feel pressured into silence.
Paul has labored ceaselessly for several months in trying to rally support for his cause. Although he found widespread solidarity among the student body, the faculty, and the administration, he discovered that the ultimate decision would rest with the college's Board of Trustees. Paul described the Board of Trustees as "invisible" since its members are impossible for ordinary students to contact and the only information on them openly available through the Messiah College website is their names.
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