Erskine College makes news with old beliefs about sexuality, marriage

Erskine College is the latest Christian university to create a stir by affirming beliefs about sexuality and marriage held by the church for more than 2,000 years.

The small liberal arts college in Due West, S.C., suddenly found itself under the unwelcome glare of the national media spotlight last week after its board of trustees adopted a statement on human sexuality. OutSports, a blog focusing on homosexual athletes, broke the story, a Washington Post blog ran with it, and others in the mainstream media tripped over themselves to follow suit. They all proclaimed the same narrative: Erskine intends to “ban” homosexuality and oust its gay students.

The problem is, neither is true.

“The main reason that we have national news attention is because of some inaccurate reporting early on that then got promulgated pretty quickly online,” said Cliff Smith, an Erskine spokesman. “That really fueled a lot of it.”

Although two of the school’s openly gay athletes, both on the men’s volleyball team, told OutSports they felt the statement might be directed at them, the board has been talking about the issue for years, Smith said.

Erskine—which is affiliated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church, a small, conservative, Southern-based denomination—has always been known as a Christian college. It didn’t feel the need to adopt a belief statement about issues of sexuality that were never questioned 50 or 60 years ago, Smith said. But in today’s pluralistic society, the board decided it needed to have some clarity on the issue of how the Erskine community would address issues that have occupied so much of the national conversation.

“We believe the Bible teaches that monogamous marriage between a man and a woman is God’s intended design for humanity and that sexual intimacy has its proper place only within the context of marriage,” the statement says.

It goes on to note that the school “seeks to treat all persons justly with grace, dignity, and compassion in the Spirit of Christ.”

No matter what happens going forward, that won’t change, Smith said.

Although much of the media coverage has jumped to conclusions about what the statement will mean in terms of policy changes, administrators are only just now starting that conversation, Smith said. He would not comment on whether the statement might be added to the guiding document all faculty members are asked to affirm as part of the hiring process. Written by ARP leaders 40 years ago, the document covers things like God’s divinity and the inerrancy of Scripture. It doesn’t say anything about sexuality.

But the guiding document reflects the school’s belief in orthodox, evangelical Christianity, as does the new statement on human sexuality.

“We’ve tried to clarify in our statement, that we are a Christian liberal arts college,” Smith said. “The position itself isn’t surprising.”

But Smith acknowledged students were surprised by the board’s actions and said the conversation going forward would develop differently because of all the attention.

Erskine has a reputation for being an open and welcoming environment for all students, who aren’t required to make any kind of faith affirmation as part of their enrollment. Although many identify as Christians, they come from a variety of spiritual backgrounds, from conservative to liberal. The focus among students has always been on respecting one another, Smith said. Even the gay athletes who oppose the new statement said they never felt threatened or treated differently because of their sexuality.

That mutual respect for the individual will guide administrators as they move forward to discuss any policy changes stemming from the statement, Smith said.

“Hopefully this gives us an opportunity to engage in community dialogue that does respect our theological commitments and honors the spirit of the gospel in how we treat each other,” he added. “We remain committed to being a Christian liberal arts college that believes that the Word of God is real and trustworthy.”

Erskine is just the latest Christian college to face negative media attention over its beliefs about marriage. Last year, Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., caused a stir when it asked for religious exemptions to a proposed ban on federal funding for institutions that “discriminate” against LGBT employees. And in 2012, Shorter University in Rome, Ga., endured protests from outraged alumni when it adopted a personal lifestyle agreement that included the biblical definition of marriage. Other schools, including Biola University, Wheaton College, and George Fox University, have faced campaigns from alumni and some students challenging their stance on sexuality.