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University asks cohabiting couple to get two rooms (Professors bow out of trip)
Twin Cities ^ | January 3, 2005 | Paul Tosto

Posted on 01/03/2006 6:16:33 AM PST by NYer

Professors Ellen Kennedy and Leigh Lawton had traveled together before for the University of St. Thomas. Where they slept was never an issue.

But last month, as they prepared for a long-planned trip with students to Australia, they got a call from a St. Thomas official asking about their "living" arrangements for the trip.

Kennedy, 57, and Lawton, 61, live together as unmarried, heterosexual partners. The university decided they could go to Australia only if they took separate rooms. They refused, considering it deceitful.

The flight left Friday with other faculty on board. The controversy won't be leaving any time soon.

Kennedy and Lawton's story is the talk among faculty and staff at the Catholic university. It comes months after St. Thomas told a lesbian choral director she couldn't officially bring her partner along on a trip to France with a university choir.

That story, playing out the past few weeks in the campus newspaper, and the emerging account of Kennedy and Lawton have spawned a complex campus debate over Catholic doctrine, the teachings of Jesus and the university's legal reach.

There's no doubt where the church stands on homosexuality and unmarried couples living together. Others ask how far the university intends to go to enforce Catholic values.

"If sin and vice become disqualifying factors for university employees, then students might have to start teaching themselves," theology professor David Landry wrote in a recent faculty newsletter.

University officials acknowledge that the travel policy is ambiguous and say they hope to fix it in the coming months. It's unclear, for instance, whether it's OK for unmarried couples in relationships to attend a professional conference or if it matters whether students are part of the trip.

It's complicated, too, because the university was willing to let Lawton and Kennedy travel together as long as they pretended not to sleep in the same room. Officials told the pair just to get two rooms; no bed checks were planned.

There's been talk on campus that Archbishop Harry Flynn, chairman of the St. Thomas board, played a role, but university officials say that's not true.

"The bottom line is it's not appropriate, we don't feel as a Catholic university, for unmarried partners, homosexual or heterosexual, to travel together" officially with students, said Doug Hennes, vice president for university and government relations.

The issue surfaced earlier this year after Ann Schrooten, a temporary music instructor and interim director of the Liturgical Choir, planned to have her female partner and their son accompany her on the choir's trip to France. The administration stepped in after a couple of students raised concerns about the arrangement.

The university told Schrooten it wouldn't be appropriate for an unmarried partner, gay or straight, to travel with the choir. The university, however, was willing to help Schrooten pay for her partner's travel as long as the arrangements were separate from the school program. She chose not to go on the trip. (Schrooten said Friday that St. Thomas first argued her partner presented a "moral dilemma" to students and only later focused the issue on not being married.)

The campus newspaper Aquin reported the story in November, prompting a flurry of responses. Some students applauded the university's defense of Catholic values; others accused the university of bias. A university employment committee rejected Schrooten's claim that she was discriminated against because she is a lesbian.

Kennedy said university officials were always polite and at times seemed embarrassed about the questions. She and Lawton are longtime professors on campus who have lived together for 12 years and whose relationship is no secret. They led a St. Thomas-sponsored trip in 2002 and accompanied St. Thomas students on a 2003 Semester at Sea program; no one asked them then where they would sleep.

Kennedy began planning the month-long Australia trip two years ago. It included four departments and studies ranging from refugees to human rights. Lawton initially planned to come at his own expense but eventually took on an administrative role.

Neither is Catholic. They believe they got tangled in the hard line the university took with Schrooten. They say they're not angry with the university but want to know what the legal boundaries are.

"Where does the line get drawn?" Lawton asked.

Legally, St. Thomas seems to be on firm ground.

Religious institutions have had employment decisions based on moral conduct upheld, as long as that was the real reason for the decision and the rules were evenly applied to men and women, said Marie Failinger, who teaches law at Hamline University and edits the Journal of Law and Religion.

These conflicts have been an issue with religious Protestant universities more often than Catholic institutions, but "it's a growing trend for Catholic universities to take their Catholic identity more seriously," she said. "Maybe you'll see more of these cases in the future."

St. Thomas officials hope to draft a new travel policy this month. Faculty members are expected to discuss the issue at a meeting Feb. 3.

Landry, the theology professor, recently asked the question, "What would Jesus do?" and noted that in the Gospel of John, Jesus did not judge an unmarried Samaritan woman with a partner.

"He does not seem excessively concerned about the bad example she sets for her hearers, only that she is doing good and bringing others to faith," he wrote. "I thought I worked for the kind of institution that followed the example of Jesus."

Landry wrote in an e-mail that the response to his essay from faculty and staff has been overwhelmingly positive: "There are a lot of people who are worried and/or angry about this."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: academia; catholic; catholicschools; cohabit; highereducation; marriage
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1 posted on 01/03/2006 6:16:36 AM PST by NYer
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To: american colleen; Lady In Blue; Salvation; narses; SMEDLEYBUTLER; redhead; Notwithstanding; ...
Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list


2 posted on 01/03/2006 6:17:03 AM PST by NYer (Discover the beauty of the Eastern Catholic Churches - freepmail me for more information.)
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To: NYer
At least the University is being consistent.
3 posted on 01/03/2006 6:21:09 AM PST by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: NYer

"He does not seem excessively concerned about the bad example she sets for her hearers, only that she is doing good and bringing others to faith," he wrote. "I thought I worked for the kind of institution that followed the example of Jesus."

Hold the phone... what was Jesus supposed to do, stone her? Just because he didn't doesn't mean he approved of her behavior. Good grief.


4 posted on 01/03/2006 6:23:37 AM PST by Mercat (sometimes God calms the storm, sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms the child)
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To: NYer

It sounds to me like the university is trying to maintain a consistent set of guidlines based on the morals, values and teachings of the Catholic faith. The students and the parents that pay the hefty tuition bills at the private university should expect nothing less than professors and university staff exemplifying the lessons of the faith while in the company of the students.

If the NBA and NFL can institute dress codes while employees are out in public, then so too and even more so should a private university be able to manage the behavior of employees while they are "at work."


5 posted on 01/03/2006 6:24:33 AM PST by Tenacious 1 (Not today.)
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To: NYer

Perhaps if they had taken a hard line in the beginning when they knew these folks were living together without being married, they would not have this problem. I don't see why people who work for religious institutions are shocked when they are expected to live according to the standards of the institution.


6 posted on 01/03/2006 6:25:25 AM PST by aberaussie
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To: NYer
Landry, the theology professor, recently asked the question, "What would Jesus do?" and noted that in the Gospel of John, Jesus did not judge an unmarried Samaritan woman with a partner.

Didn't Jesus also say "Go and sin no more"? Not, "It's OK", "go ahead and keep on sinning"?

LOL This from a "theology professor"?

7 posted on 01/03/2006 6:27:39 AM PST by Clint N. Suhks (If you don't like Jesus, you can go to hell.)
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To: NYer
unmarried couples living together. Others ask how far the university intends to go to enforce Catholic values.

"If sin and vice become disqualifying factors for university employees, then students might have to start teaching themselves," theology professor David Landry wrote in a recent faculty newsletter.

Sin does not disqualify one, but unrepentant sin certainly does. Sounds like professor Landry needs a little brush up on the topic he claims to be a professor in.

8 posted on 01/03/2006 6:29:55 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: NYer
Landry, the theology professor, recently asked the question, "What would Jesus do?" and noted that in the Gospel of John, Jesus did not judge an unmarried Samaritan woman with a partner.

"He does not seem excessively concerned about the bad example she sets for her hearers, only that she is doing good and bringing others to faith," he wrote. "I thought I worked for the kind of institution that followed the example of Jesus."

How the Samaritan woman doing good by living in sin? Only so-called theological professors can come up with this logic.

John 4:16-18

Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true."

9 posted on 01/03/2006 6:31:12 AM PST by frogjerk (LIBERALISM - Being miserable for no good reason)
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To: HamiltonJay

I don't see why this can't be explained this way..it's like smoking...on your own time, you can smoke all you want, but when you're at work, you can't smoke. If this trip is being paid for by the University, and the University has these rules, they should abide by it. It just doesn't seem like such a big deal...especially if you're a person of faith. I just love how people join groups because they believe in the message, but then they want the group to change to suit them. It's so selfish.


10 posted on 01/03/2006 6:35:53 AM PST by Hildy (Spielberg spends his spare time memorializing the last Holocaust while working to justify the next.)
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To: Clint N. Suhks

To be clear, the article says nothing of the couple "having sex." It is recognized that adultery, which is a sin, is the act of sex outside of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. If the couple argues that they have never, nor intend to ever, have sex until they are married in the church, then the church could have difficulties. Of course then the would be lying and that is frowned upon as well. Different communities act differently in these cases. I know of a few cases where teachers at catholic schools were fired when it was discovered that they were "living in sin." In other cases, I know of don't ask don't tell scenarios where the church did not act unless obvious circumstances warranted action.

One way or another, I believe the church should maintain the set of values and morals outlined and exemplified by our faith and should not bend. They should also be consistent in the enforcement.


11 posted on 01/03/2006 6:37:38 AM PST by Tenacious 1 (Not today.)
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To: NYer
Good on a Catholic institution for taking this stance!

from a well-wishing protestant....
12 posted on 01/03/2006 6:38:17 AM PST by vimto (Life isn't a dry run)
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To: frogjerk


People always want to forget that Jesus forgave penitent sinners with a "Go and Sin No More," and never an "I'm OK, You're OK."


13 posted on 01/03/2006 6:38:53 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum (Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With God Micah 6:8)
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To: NYer
Landry, the theology professor, recently asked the question, "What would Jesus do?" and noted that in the Gospel of John, Jesus did not judge an unmarried Samaritan woman with a partner.

He apparently FAILED to note however that Jesus CONFRONTED the woman for her adulterous relationship and certainly did NOT condone it. What can be inferred from the story in the Gospel of John is that the encounter of the Samaritan woman with Jesus produced a transformation in her life and in the town, and that afterward she was no longer shacking up with the man whe was not her husband (i.e. either they got married or one of them got a new address).

14 posted on 01/03/2006 6:39:53 AM PST by VRWCmember
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To: NYer

Please add me to your Catholic list.


15 posted on 01/03/2006 6:40:52 AM PST by kitkat (Democrat/Socialist/Communist.= Hillary the RED)
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To: All

Maybe I'm not understanding this story. The couple are heterosexual, unmarried and live together. And both are of the same gender.

This suggests they share expenses to reduce them and do not have sex and are not living in sin.

I guess the key is the gender. If they are of different gender, then heterosexual means they are "shacking up".

If they are of the same gender, then heterosexual means they are merely living under the same roof.

The names are Ellen and Leigh. I read that as both females, heterosexual . . . and I just don't see a problem.


16 posted on 01/03/2006 6:41:27 AM PST by Owen
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To: Hildy

Well frankly I don't see this as an issue.. honestly the two professors certainly are subjet to dismissal if they have been cohabitating outside of marriage, which it appears that they have... The school would certainly be within their rights to do so.

I think not letting them sleep together on a school sponsored trip is pretty darn light on the enforcement end myself.

This looks to me like a bunch of busybodies trying to stir up trouble.

The reality is the church knows about sin, it frowns on it, but it also recognizes that sin is part of our nature.. we are failed and flawed creatures. The church no only recognizes the sin and failings of man, its an integral part of the faith, one of the Holy Sacraments exists (though sadly is rarely practiced by most) around the entire recognition and need of forgiveness from sin.

However, unrepentant sin, is unrepentant sin, and to expect the church to turn a blind eye to it is rediculous. To have a Theology professor at a chuch sponsored school suggest otherwise makes me wonder greatly what Theology this professor studies.. because it surely is not Catholicism.


17 posted on 01/03/2006 6:43:42 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: NYer
"Where does the line get drawn?" Lawton asked.

Right under your signature on the employment contract dipstick.

18 posted on 01/03/2006 6:44:20 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: Owen
"Kennedy, 57, and Lawton, 61, live together as unmarried, heterosexual partners."
19 posted on 01/03/2006 6:47:26 AM PST by jwalsh07
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To: Owen

"The names are Ellen and Leigh. I read that as both females, heterosexual . . . and I just don't see a problem"

Leigh is a man.


20 posted on 01/03/2006 6:50:49 AM PST by Nihil Obstat (The real danger to a society is not merely a lack of virtue, but a lack of heroism.)
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