The university says the club is not “supportive of the university’s traditional Christian teachings regarding homosexuality.”
By Ashley King/Special to The Malibu Times
Pepperdine University rejected the application of an anti-homophobia club for official recognition as a student organization for the spring semester.
Students Against Homophobia, was founded in 2003 by Pepperdine sophomore Grant Turck, who submitted the application.
Turck met a Jan. 30 university deadline by filing papers with the school’s Office of Student Organizations to officially register his organization, SAH, with Pepperdine.
Pepperdine responded by releasing the following statement, “The University reserves the right to determine whether a student organization is consistent with the university mission,” adding “based on the SAH press release, it appears that SAH is not supportive of the university’s traditional Christian teachings regarding homosexuality.”
SAH is a student-run and student/faculty-led organization designed to educate the Pepperdine Community about homophobia and its effects, according to SAH’s constitution. Seven students have officially requested to be a part of the organization and several others have expressed interest, Turck said.
“SAH is an organization that seeks to bring people of all backgrounds and viewpoints together to form a common bond of tolerance, respect and justice for people of all sexual orientations,” Turck said.
Turck said the university’s decision would adversely affect the quality of student life on campus. “It sends a clear message of ignorance to both the student body and those outside the university,” Turck said.
As a non-recognized student organization, SAH will not be allowed to hold any meetings on campus and is not allowed to advertise in any way on university property.
Pepperdine also stated that it openly advertises the university as a Christian university and openly announces its moral standards.
“We believe it is possible – indeed, imperative-both to remain faithful to the ethical traditions of orthodox Christianity and to be welcoming (courteous, loving, supportive, etc.) of all persons,” Pepperdine states in its release. “As Ken Durham, minister of the University Church of Christ, has pointed out in campus presentations on ‘Why Homophobia Is Not a Christian Value,’ it is not ‘homophobic’ to uphold traditional Christian teachings about homosexuality. Homophobia is the fear of people who identify themselves as homosexual and the unchristian treatment of them (e.g. gay-bashing, harassment, threats, etc.).”
Turck, however, says SAH does not seek to affirm or publicize any sexual orientation or lifestyle. Rather, SAH remains neutral in regards to specifically affirming any sexual orientation or lifestyle. Turck also said that he chose to attend Pepperdine because of its Christian reputation.
“I am a Christian, and I chose to attend Pepperdine because of its Christian atmosphere, but also because of its great academic opportunities it presented,” he said. I’m not trying to ruin Pepperdine’s reputation by starting SAH, but I do feel that Pepperdine is angry in the fact that I’ve brought in outsiders to help have it recognized as an official organization.”
SAH has received endorsements from PFLAG-LA, or Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and state Sen. Shelia Kuehl.
Despite the university’s decision, Turck has vowed to put up a diplomatic fight in an effort to get the school to reverse it. SAH has launched a letter writing campaign to the university’s president, Andrew K. Benton.
Turck has numerous letters of support in his campaign. His letters have already been published on several Web sites and have received responses of support from students from other college campuses along with former Pepperdine students and the former editor in chief of the university’s school newspaper, The Graphic, Jim Radosta.
Radosta graduated in 1994 and now works for a gay-themed newspaper in Portland, Ore. Radosta wrote in an e-mail to Turck that when he was the editor in 1992, an underground group of students painted a pink triangle on The Rock, a huge rock in the center of campus that students paint or decorate, to celebrate National Coming Out Day. When one of the Campus Ministry associates learned about this, the triangle was immediately painted over with gold paint. Radosta caught wind of the associate’s name who painted over the triangle and interviewed him for the student newspaper. The associate, Radosta wrote, “proudly admitted that he was the culprit, and then added, ‘And if they want to paint it again, I’ll be watching over them with my baseball bat.’ “
“Speaking from personal experience, Pepperdine can be a terrifying place for gay students and staff, especially when the administration continues to deny their existence,” Radosta said in a phone interview. “The university’s mission statement claims to embrace diversity, Christian values and the pursuit of truth; an organization that seeks to end homophobia and promote tolerance, in my estimation, fits squarely within these parameters.”
Pepperdine’s official statement on Monday says differently.
“We believe there are better venues than a student organization for addressing our shared concerns regarding homophobia,” Pepperdine states. “The university remains committed to the ongoing dialogue about homosexuality and homophobia through lectures, forums, classroom discussions, RA training, New Student Orientation, etc.”
However, there are already student organizations that are in support of SAH and would like to see it approved.
The Inner Club Council, which allocates money to clubs on campus at Pepperdine, had promised to give SAH an allotted amount of money that would help support Turck’s Awareness Poster Campaign, if it were approved. Along with money from the ICC, the Pepperdine Young Republicans has also given $25 of its budget in support of SAH.
SAH’s fate as a recognized Pepperdine organization may have been predictable. This is the second time such an organization has been denied.
Two years ago, the university denied official recognition to a group of students seeking to start a student organization entitled The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Alliance.
As Plan B, Turck is already trying to get non-profit organization status to function outside of Pepperdine.