Well, the University of the Cumberlands is in the news again.
You know the place. It's where Senate President David Williams, in whose district the campus is located, tried to put $12 million in public money for a pharmacy school and scholarships.It's where a sophomore from Lexington, Jason Johnson, was kicked out shortly before the end of the spring semester in 2006, for acknowledging his homosexuality on his MySpace.com Web page and for mentioning he had a boyfriend. Williams then rallied a campus crowd against the school's critics, promising, "These people that don't want this university to have values and principles will be defeated."
Actually it was the university that got beat — in court, when Special Judge Roger Crittenden ruled that using state money for the pharmacy project violated the Kentucky Constitution. Meanwhile, the Accreditation Agency for Pharmacy Education was committed to policy that "ensures nondiscrimination as defined by state and federal laws and regulations, such as on the basis of race, religion gender, lifestyle, sexual orientation, national origin or disability."
Now this same University of the Cumberlands is in the headlines again, after abruptly jerking an invitation to a youth group from Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, which had planned to come build homes for the poor. And why the rebuff? Because the student-volunteers' church recently was kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention, for acting to "affirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavior."
One wonders what values and principles Williams had in mind when he rushed to defend the university's orthodoxies....
Friday, July 10, 2009
A lesson in love at University of the Cumberlands
This from David Hawpe at the Courier-Journal:
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4 comments:
Instititions like the Universitry of the Cumberlands are really an embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is simply beyond reason that a university today would discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. One day, when an updated history of education in Kentucky is written, this institution will stand out for its closemindedness.
Interesting that you should mention the history of education in Kentucky. That is a particular interest of mine and a couple of us are working to correct the current deficit of collected information.
The last history of education was published in 1964 - around the time Kentucky was beginning to require certification for elementary school teachers. Of course, everything has changed since then.
Bill Ellis (EKU History retired)is working on a book for the UK Press (200 page overview). I am spenmding this summer investigating a much more encyclopedic approach; a collaborative website that would serve as a repository and kind of clearing house for researcher on the topic.
In either case, the treatement of private institutions will need to be accounted for.
Just as any account of the history of education in Kentucky must address the struggle African Americans faced in getting equal access to the schools, I hope your account will add the issue of sexual orientation in the schools. Kentucky seems to avoid this like a hot potato, pretending gay kids don't exist. It's only a matter of time before the parents of Kentucky's gay, lesbian, and transgendered students start to sue over the harassment their kids face in the public schools.
It's happening already and, yes, it too is part of the story of our people and our public schools.
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