SAFE applauds students and the administration of Columbia International University who on Tuesday rejected Soulforce Equality Rider’s message of false equality.
The Daily Gamecock carried an AP story stating that the group was also rejected by Columbia’s administration.
Columbia International University spokesman Mike Blackwell said Soulforce refused an offer to meet with faculty, staff and student leaders off campus. The university won’t invite any groups to campus that advocate beliefs contrary to school policies, he said.
“We just didn’t see any reason to give them a forum to communicate something that we didn’t believe in,” Blackwell said.
The university student handbook states that “certain behaviors are expressly prohibited in Scripture and therefore are to be avoided by members of the University community. These include theft, gambling, lying, dishonesty, gossip, slander, backbiting, profanity, vulgarity (including crude language), sexual promiscuity (including adultery, homosexual behavior, premarital sex, and pornography), drunkenness, immodest attire, and occult practice.”
Katie Higgins, the group’s press agent continued giving misleading statements to the press as noted by one current student.
The statement claiming, “The group has received several letters from gay Columbia International University students scared to speak out – even an anonymous one from a former student who was kicked out of the university, Higgins said.” is inaccurate and misleading. There are students who face the issue of a homosexual nature here at CIU. They are not trying to change the rules though. And regarding the members of soulforce who were contacted, it was to establish friendships on facebook by CIU students. Not that we are “afraid” of coming out. If those are the students that are referred to, then that is misleading. Students here are not scared to speak out, many who deal with this issue have shared that homosexuality is something they are working through. A university spokesman said he couldn’t provide details about the case and that the university had no openly gay students. – that is true in the sense that no student embraces their struggle of homosexuality. The anonymous student was a former student from 20 years ago who contacted Soulforce. That is what the people of soulforce told us as they read the letter to us. No one has been kicked out of CIU for embracing homosexuality in at least the past three years that I have been a student.
Actually, Soulforce was allowed on campus at CIU and talked with students and administration.
The school provided the group with lunch and port-a-johns.
What are your sources?
By: Lilita Negron on October 10, 2008
at 4:50 am
no disrespect intended, but your questions/comments seem to get a bit stranger each time. Maybe it is because you are operating from a misinformed perspective. Suggest that you go back and read about what we advocate.
Also links in stories (generally red) are put there for a purpose.
By: safeinschool on October 10, 2008
at 12:29 pm
Stranger? How so?
FYI, because you look to inform people it’s important to succinctly address concerns and questions from the public and not dismiss them, as you just did with me.
It was dismissive to “suggest that you go back and read about what we advocate.”, when it is evident that I have read all of your blogs.
I only asked what your sources were. The only information that you provided was a link to the paper for a local university that confirms that Soulforce was allowed on campus. It was an unbiased article that showed all of the participant’s perspectives. Still you wrote that CIU “resisted their efforts”?
There are pictures of Soulforce members sitting with students and talking. There are many more pictures from that day available all over the internet.
Soulforce and their bus was even invited on to the campus of the University of South Carolina’s campus to assist them with their National Coming Out Day festivities.
I understand what you are “advocating” in this blog, but usually the truth includes a complete telling of a story.
If you were confident in your truth, than you would be able to give a whole view of their visit to the school and your beliefs would be evident.
By: Lilita Negron on October 10, 2008
at 1:54 pm
Permit me to cite just a few lines from the article:
What part of “rejection of Soulforce message” did you not get from these statements?
Thus our assertion that the students and administration rejected ER message is 100% correct and in context to the event.
USC Orangeburg is not a Christian school, neither is Morehouse or Spelman, therefore not our concern.
Futhermore, we advocate “awareness, information and preparation”. That’s on our website homepage. Maybe you missed it.
By: safeinschool on October 10, 2008
at 2:46 pm