On Monday evening the Student Government Association (SGA) held its second public forum about the proposed changes to the Community Covenant. The meeting was held in the Paine Science Building’s Schaller Lecture Hall, which was filled to capacity. Before discussion began, Jiwan Dhaliwal ‘17 provided a devotion and prayer. She admonished the crowd to “allow the Christian story and ethic of love to supercede your personal theological beliefs,” and added further that “we will lose our Christian community if we don’t value love above all else.” This call for unity in love was echoed by several community members throughout the evening.
Following the devotion, Vice President for Student Life, Robert Pool, spoke about the intent behind the proposed changes to the Community Covenant. The new language is meant to “clarify” the current use of the phrase “homosexual behavior.”
The proposed revised language reads:
“We believe, consistent with scripture and Wesleyan Church doctrine, that certain acts are clearly prohibited including: drinking alcohol to excess, stealing, speaking or writing profanely or slanderously, acting dishonestly, cheating, and engaging in occult practice. We also believe that sexual expression should be confined to marriage between one man and one woman as legally assigned at birth. Therefore, we expect members of the Houghton College community to refrain from engaging in premarital sex, adultery, and same-sex sexual behavior or dating relationships. We also expect all community members to use discretion and modesty when displaying affection, especially such displays deemed inappropriate for public or commons spaces.”
The floor was then opened for general discussion, moderated by student body president, Joanna Friesen ‘17. Community members on both sides of the issue shared their views.
The final voice heard in the open discussion was that of Ron McEntire, a current graduate student in Organ Performance. He told the story of his life, admitting that he was a gay Christian who first attended Houghton in the 1960’s. Though he was always aware that his identity as a gay man stood in tension with Wesleyan Church doctrine, his commitment to the Christian faith transcended differences about sexual ethics, regardless of how painful they could be. On the topic of the proposed revision he said, “When I look at this language I don’t feel safe here.” This sentiment was shared by other members of the LGBTQ community on campus.
After open discussion ended the SGA voted on whether or not to reject and edit the proposed language. They chose to reject and edit, and will create an editing committee comprised of the Executive Council and class presidents. The purpose of this committee will be to find language that addresses the vagueness within the current covenant, while remaining sensitive to the needs of the entire community. As Pool said, “The intent is that the entire community agrees on the language. If not, then it’s not a community covenant.” Any questions, comments, or proposals for the Covenant language can be sent to the SGA at their email, sga@hougthon.edu