Baylor University to return LGBTQ inclusion grant

Baylor University’s Center for Church and Community Impact will return a roughly $643,000 grant it accepted just over a week ago. The university’s president, Linda Livingstone, on Wednesday said faculty who previously accepted the money for research into LGBTQ inclusion voluntarily offered to return it.

Part of the university’s Christian mission includes providing a loving and caring community for LGBTQ students, Livingstone said. Baylor remained committed to its mission and its historic Baptist identity, she said.

What was the purpose of the grant? The money from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation was intended to fund research into the perceived exclusion of LGBTQ individuals and women within the church. The studies would foster change, according to an archived version of Baylor’s since-deleted announcement. Part of the research would have included running a pilot curriculum at several churches. A faculty member from the Baylor’s Center for Church and Community Impact said the foundation previously funded studies on marginalization in the church for several years, according to the statement.

Why did the school reverse course? School leadership wasn’t concerned about the research itself, Livingstone said. But the grant also required the school to advocate for perspectives on human sexuality that didn’t match Baylor’s institutional policies, she said. The school’s Statement on Human Sexuality says homosexual behavior is a deviation from the Biblical norm.

Livingstone also acknowledged that the grant announcement caused concern among the school’s partner organizations and supporters. She called the situation a learning opportunity.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s story on how Christian artists Shane & Shane launched a worship platform for the Southern Baptist Convention.