Baylor University President Linda Livingstone announced on Wednesday that the university’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work would “voluntarily … rescind” acceptance of a grant for studying LGBTQIA+ issues and the church.
Baylor announced last week that its Center for Church and Community Impact (C3I) had been awarded a grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation “to foster inclusion and belonging in the church,” with an emphasis on understanding “the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations to nurture institutional courage and foster change.”
But this week, Baylor reversed course. President Livingstone and Baylor issued a statement, part of which read: “Dean Jon Singletary and principal investigator Dr. Gaynor Yancey have voluntarily offered to rescind their acceptance of this grant on behalf of the School of Social Work and return all associated funds to the granting foundation. Provost Nancy Brickhouse and I support this decision and agree this is the appropriate course of action and in the best interests of Baylor University.”
The announcement came as a disappointment to the Baugh Foundation. The foundation released a lengthy statement in response to Baylor’s decision: “The Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation Board of Trustees is deeply saddened by Baylor’s decision to cancel the recent ‘Courage from the Margins’ research grant following an online campaign of fear and misinformation.”
The statement lamented the consequences of Baylor’s decision: “This was an opportunity to answer the Christian call to care for the marginalized by creating resources and providing important research for faith communities. Our hearts break for the professors, research fellows, and, especially, the students who will receive this message from Baylor, loud and clear.”
As the Baugh Foundation and parts of the Baylor family attempted to make sense of the university’s decision, Good Faith Media was attending the 23rd Baptist World Alliance World Congress in Brisbane, Australia. Just hours after the decision to reject the grant and end the study program, President Livingstone and BWA General Secretary and CEO Elijah Brown took the stage to make an announcement.
BWA and Baylor are establishing a BWA Program of Study with a $4 million grant given by Susan and Lee Bush. The Bushes live in East Texas, own Red Dot Building Systems and are long-time members of First Baptist Church of Athens. The gift will, among other things, establish the Lampsato Endowed Chair of Baptist World Missional Engagement.
“The Baptist World Alliance and Baylor University announced today the establishment of a Baptist World Alliance Program, the first-ever university-based, graduate-level study center devoted specifically to the study of the life, history and ongoing mission and ministry of the Baptist World Alliance,” read a statement from Baylor. “The BWA Program will be housed at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.”
While the two announcements occurring on the same day within hours of each other could be a coincidence, BWA, Baylor and Texas Baptists have strengthened their relationship over the past few years, with Texas Baptists gaining increasing influence in the global Baptist community. On Thursday night in Brisbane, BWA announced its new officers. The only American officer was from Texas, Jerry Carlisle (Missions Foundation President).
All three organizations hold similar positions regarding LGBTQ+ individuals and same-sex marriage.
The Baylor 2009 Statement on Human Sexuality, which Livingstone cited in the school’s decision to reject the Baugh grant, states:
“Baylor University welcomes all students into a safe and supportive environment in which to discuss and learn about a variety of issues, including those of human sexuality. The University affirms the biblical understanding of sexuality as a gift from God. Christian churches across the ages and around the world have affirmed purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm. Temptations to deviate from this norm include both heterosexual sex outside of marriage and homosexual behavior. It is thus expected that Baylor students will not participate in advocacy groups which promote understandings of sexuality that are contrary to biblical teaching. The University encourages students struggling with these issues to avail themselves of opportunities for serious, confidential discussion, and support through the Spiritual Life Office or through the Baylor University Counseling Center.”
In 2016, Texas Baptists passed a resolution that read in part, “because of the historical and biblical positions of the BGCT as stated in multiple resolutions, motions, and actions, that any church which affirms any sexual relationship outside the bonds of a marriage between one man and one woman be considered out of harmonious cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”
BWA passed a general resolution on sexuality in 1989 but has not addressed it directly since then. However, with the growing influence of Texas Baptist leaders, a more direct statement calling for a “traditionally biblical” relationship between a man and woman is probably not far behind.
In Baylor’s statement regarding the return of the Baugh grant, Livingstone wrote, “We remain committed to providing a loving and caring community for all—including our LGBTQIA+ students—because it is part and parcel of our University’s mission that calls us to educate our students within a caring Christian community.”
When Livingstone was asked for a comment at BWA, she responded, “I have no comment apart from our statement.” And herein lies the problem at Baylor: The university wants to have it both ways. It wants to tout academic freedom and being a caring Christian community—unless it prevents a $4 million gift.
Baylor says it “strongly uphold(s) the principle of academic freedom.” However, the Baugh grant was slated to study the relationship between LGBTQ+ individuals and congregations. Withholding opportunities for professors and students to study and learn is not academic freedom. Nothing in the grant would have violated the university’s statement. The purpose was to “utilize interviews, focus groups and surveys of university students … to develop trauma-sensitive training materials for churches.”
Baylor contended the grant and study would have violated its sexuality statement, arguing the grant was “advocacy.” Baylor said, in its statement rejecting the grant, “The work extended into advocacy for perspectives on human sexuality are inconsistent with Baylor’s institutional policies.” Really? When does asking questions and cataloging answers become advocacy? If that is true, then all academic freedom is jeopardized.
Academic freedom enables professors and students to engage in uncomfortable conversations through research and study. And, no one is buying the “volunteer” rhetoric coming from the university. This was a forced decision coming from somewhere. When pressure is placed on professors and students to “do the right thing for the university,” that usually means there is something to hide.
So, what is there to hide?
Why is Baylor so scared of having conversations with LGBTQ+ students, alumni and churches?
Is it because Baylor suspects the results of the research might not make the institution look like the “caring Christian community” it keeps insisting it is?
A prominent Texas pastor called me one time to criticize GFM’s coverage of Baylor and its LGBTQ+ students. I invited the pastor to write an opposing column, and we would publish it. The pastor responded, “I can’t.”
“Why?” I asked.
“It will make me look like an ass,” the pastor concluded.
The pastor was not wrong.
Good Faith Media interviewed former Baylor students four years ago about what “serious, confidential discussion, and support” truly means. From the Baylor alumni we interviewed, we heard they were encouraged to seek counseling and spiritual direction through ministries like Antioch Church in Waco and Living Hope at First Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas.
Both ministries practiced what mental health professionals condemn as “conversion therapy.”
The “loving and caring community” at Baylor appears to have limits.
As alumni read more about Baylor’s rejection of the Baugh grant, I wonder how many will take down their degrees and shove their Bear pride back in the closet—because “the closet” is where Baylor wants to shame its students into residing.
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