Posted on 12/13/2015 10:28:25 PM PST by NKP_Vet
Carson-Newman University is a four year, liberal arts Southern Baptist college in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
It is now also a college that has legally won the right to discriminate, based on sexual orientation and unfair, old-fashioned gendered expectations of women.
The university, at the behest of their attorney, applied for and received a Title IX exemption waiver, allowing them to bypass federal non-discrimination laws.
Title IX is a federal law which directly prohibits discrimination based on sex in higher education.
The law allows for any school "controlled by a religious organization" to seek an exemption if complying "would not be consistent with the religious tenants of such organization."
Carson-Newman's exemption allows the college to reject those who live in conflict with its interpretation of Christianity. This includes LGBT peoples, unwed mothers, women who have had abortions, and non-married women who may be pregnant.
The college has clarified that their usage of the waiver is not discriminatory, as it intends to "further establish our identity as a religious school."
University president Dr. Randall O'Brien requested the exemption in a letter addressed to the federal government in May 2015.
"This is who we are as a Christian university," he told CBS affiliate WVLT on Monday. "These are our religious principles, and in a changing world, we would like to reaffirm that this is who we are and who we intend to be."
The university has stated that their reception of the waiver will not affect its admissions policies, at least not in the upcoming year.
When pressed by a local news tv station, President O'Brien paradoxically stated that the exemption would not lead the university to "discriminate against or students or any student applying to Carson-Newman."
The college has so far been unable to clarify exactly how they intend to utilize the waiver. It is not even clear why the university wanted to waiver in the first place, unless they intended to use it.
“You’re the president,†WVLT’s Lauren Davis noted. “You’re not going to file something unless you understand it.â€
President O’Brien said in response to Davis’ assertion that the exemption would allow the school to “strengthen our position in relation to First Amendment rights. I don’t really know why something would be necessary beyond that.â€
Despite their reception of the waiver, its usage is something which the university has clearly defined.
Jared Champion, Carson-Newman Class of 2003, told The Knoxville News-Sentinel that he was “absolutely humiliated by the news.â€
Champion said that he believes that the exemption will impact the value of his degree as he continues his career as a college professor.
"As I move forward and put in job applications, and the like, I'm going to have to put in an addendum . . . to let them know that the values that Carson-Newman now represents are not mine," Champion said.
The university's attorney, Jim Guenther, has recommended the same exemption as a prudent course of action for several other Christian colleges.
Cool.
I expect the uniparty to act like nazis and denounce religious freedom.
Now that lefties have used the word nazi and hiter its ok to use it against them
Does this college receive any subsidies from the gov’t, such as federal tuition aid to its students?
If not, then it should have the right to set these standards for admission.
It is important not to stand by while our culture is destroyed by a series of cells operating around mosques or Muslim schools. Yet we are in a constitutional box.
The only solution which preserves the culture and observes the Constitution is to halt Muslim immigration into the country.
That’s quite a feat to pull off in today’s world, and legally too! This is from an Attorney who thinks defensively,and outside the box. Most adult Christians are unaccustomed to having to defend their right to believe.
Agree. Except I believe the only reason the government allowed this is to support Muslim institutions and their invocation of Sharia law - but now they can say "Christians did it first."
The whole “no one can discriminate” nonsense is a direct attack on freedom of association for any entity other than a government agency.
The law should be colorblind, but private individuals have an absolute right to freedom of association.
It’s like owning a gun for PD. You hope you never have to use it but you are glad you have it in case you do. It may keep the mentally disabled from applying to your college.
Well, how nice. But what if the court had ruled the other way? Would that right have then been deemed retroactively non-existent?
I don't at all like the concept of "exemptions." It presupposes the condition that but for a specific, allowable harmless action, specified by a government, you would be illegally "discriminating." This put the existence of constitutional rights on its head. It makes the individual/entity prove that they are not breaking the law instead of this burden of proof falling completely on the governent.
No one should have the obligation in the least to defend it's "right to discrimination." Discrimination DEFINES freedom. This should be beyond the purview of any court to decide, and I wouldn't even subject myself to their decision.
Excellent!
‘’A religious college should have the right to set standards on the type of people they want attending their college.’’
Hooray, Tennessee! That type of attitude is why we left CA and came to TN.
Congrats on your move. I’m in a small town in TN and it’s like living in another time in history. I went back to college and my math professor gave all of us a homemade loaf of bread with a Bible verse enclosed with each loaf on the last day of class. We occasionally have gospel singing’s at the local Wal-Mart and still pray at high school ballgames. I’m not posting exactly where I live because I know liberal trolls would love to give us grief but I can tell you that the local residents won’t put up with it.
When we moved here, I was checking out at Food City the first time and signing up for their bonus card. In line, the cashier and two ladies behind me all invited me to their respective churches. In CA, the cashier would’ve been let go. It definitely is another world — and we LOVE it!
Yes, small towns are remaining exceedingly conservative, thankfully. But from what I’ve been hearing, Nashville is becoming the San Francisco of the state. And the enclaves ruled by universities are almost no different from Marxist communities of the NE.
HaHa! We’re happy to have you here. From what I read in the news we are blessed to live here. Around here the question usually is ‘where do you go to church’ not ‘do you go to church’.
The small towns in TN don’t change much and are still very conservative. The large cities are more liberal. They also have more of a Muslim population that I wish we didn’t have. Chattanooga is still fairly more conservative than some even though it’s large.
Yes; it’s always “WHERE do you go to church”. Refreshing.
bump
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