Anti-Gay Christian college hosts gay activists from Soulforce

[Ian David]

Christian college hosts gay activists

By Jesse Noyes
Boston Herald Business Reporter
Sunday, April 15, 2007

A group of activists who tour colleges they claim discriminate against gays and bisexuals is creating a stir of anticipation at the close-knit North Shore evangelical school they plan to visit today.

Some 25 straight and gay young people from Soulforce, a mostly Christian association, will spend a few days speaking with students at Gordon College, a small evangelical Christian institution in Wenham. Their arrival is creating chatter on a campus whose stated policy prohibits students from engaging in “homosexual acts.”

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Soulforce has two buses traveling the nation on “equality rides.” Of the 14 college stops the east-traveling bus has made, Gordon will be only the fifth to invite the group onto campus, DeVries said.

Other Christian colleges have brought in police officers to keep the group off its property, he said.

Gordon administrators are planning events and will let the group address students and staff. Gordon officials will follow Soulforce presentations with a response.

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Herald staff reporter Jesse Noyes is a former student of Gordon College and was an editor at the student-run newspaper, The Tartan.

More:
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=194836



See also:


Christian school to host gay activists
Gordon College agrees to dialogue

By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | April 16, 2007

WENHAM -- Breaking with many fellow conservative Christian schools, Gordon College in Wenham will welcome to campus this week a busload of young adults who are sharply critical of the school's policies on homosexuality.

The gay-rights activists have repeatedly been arrested and barred from the campuses of other Christian colleges this year as they travel the country in their effort to call attention to what they view as discriminatory policies and hostile climates on evangelical campuses.

But officials at Gordon, where homosexual activity is barred by campus policy, have agreed to host the group for a series of presentations and conversations, saying they believe it will be good for students to hear a variety of views. The college has held three lectures about homosexuality and morality, the Bible, and science, and is highlighting the visit on its website.

"We present lots of ideas in the classroom that we don't agree with -- that's part of education," said Barry J. Loy , the dean of students. "I'm hopeful that they will come here to learn, and we will do the same. We're not keeping our students from them."

More:

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/04/16/christian_school_to_host_gay_activists/