Posted on 04/13/2002 7:54:37 AM PDT by gohabsgo
In early January, shortly after Miami crushed Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, Nebraska football Assistant Coach Ron Brown journeyed to a Los Angeles hotel to interview for the coaching job at Stanford.
But he didn't get any further than the initial interview.
The reason: It soon became apparent his religious views, among other things, were incompatible with Stanford's liberal student body and active gay community.
"(His religion) was definitely something that had to be considered," said Alan Glenn, Stanford's assistant athletic director of human resources. "We're a very diverse community with a diverse alumni. Anything that would stand out that much is something that has to be looked at. ... It was one of many variables that was considered."
But Stanford's gay student leaders were more blunt in voicing their opposition.
"Wow, it would be really hard for him here," said Courtney Wooten, a sophomore sociology and studio art major and social director of Stanford's Queer Straight Social and Political Alliance. "He would be poorly received by the student body in general."
For his part, Brown said, "I don't know the answer to how I would fit in there. ... The truth is the truth. I don't believe you compromise any truth for whatever job."
The early January meeting between Brown and Stanford Athletic Director Ted Leland at a Los Angeles hotel raises a number of questions.
Among them:
Does Stanford's view of Brown's religious beliefs as one reason for not hiring him constitute discrimination against Christians? And do Brown's outspoken views on homosexuality constitute discrimination against Stanford's gay students?
Is it ironic that a liberal university devoted to inclusion and diversity would refuse to hire a coach based in part on his Christian belief system?
Have Brown's highly publicized religious views limited his career, effectively trapping him in Lincoln where he has found a comfortable niche for the past 15 years?
Both academically and athletically, Stanford is one of the nation's elite universities. Its faculty members have won 25 Nobel Prizes since the university's founding, and its Athletic Department regularly contends for the Sears Director's Cup, symbolic of the most well-rounded sports program in the nation.
Stanford is no stranger to Brown, 45, or his family. Brown's wife, Molina Carter, earned a bachelor's degree from the university in Palo Alto, Calif., and Brown's niece was recently admitted on early decision.
Brown, who in 1979 earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Brown University in Providence, R.I., and a master's degree in health administration from New York City's Columbia University in 1982, said he's always been academically inclined.
"I'm always interested in quality schools with a quality academic/athletic blend," he said. "(Stanford's) done a great job over the years combining the two."
But he was surprised at the response he received from the top-20 college football program.
"If I'd been discriminated against for being black, they would've never told me that," Brown said. "They had no problem telling me it was because of my Christian beliefs. That's amazing to me."
Glenn said Brown's religion was a consideration but not the determinate variable.
Buddy Teevens, who Stanford announced as coach Jan. 9, coached for Leland at Dartmouth University, Glenn said, and Stanford felt Teevens' previous offensive coaching experience fit in well with offenses run in the Pacific 10.
Leland did not return a number of phone calls regarding Stanford's decision not to hire Brown.
A column by Brown appears in the March 2002 magazine Sharing the Victory, a Fellowship of Christian Athletes publication.
In it, he writes about the athletic director who "vacillated" on whether to bring Brown to campus for a final interview.
"After deliberation, he decided not to," Brown wrote, "with the explanation that he did not believe that my Christian convictions would mesh well with that university."
In November 1999, Brown drew heavy media attention after he called homosexuality a sin on his Christian radio talk show, then called "Husker Sports Report." On the show, he admitted hating and sometimes harassing homosexuals as a child.
Today, he says he was merely quoting Scripture and rebuking humans for dismissing or scorning homosexuals. It was an act of mercy, he said.
"My source of truth is the Bible," he said. "That does not get me off the hook from loving people."
But his views on certain sexual preferences remain the same.
"I don't believe homosexuality is biblically correct," he said. "But that doesn't mean I disdain the people or do anything to disrespect anyone here."
It's the fact he's outspoken on those views, though, that has some at Stanford waving red flags.
Wooten, the social chairwoman of the 50-member Queer Straight Social and Political Alliance, said she knows "a huge number" of football players who would be uncomfortable with a coach who's against homosexuality.
Julie Fitzgerald, a sophomore political science major at Stanford and financial officer for the alliance, said Stanford was definitely a "queer-friendly campus" with several gay athletes on the football team.
"I don't think he would fit in very well," she said. "If somebody with those views came onto campus, there'd be a lot of activism about those views."
Even Christian leaders - at both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Stanford - said Brown's strong religious views might be seen as discriminatory.
Because strong Christians often hold nonpolitically correct views on issues such as homosexuality and sex outside of marriage, universities shy away from them so as not to offend donors, alumni or future recruits, said Chris Bubak, Lincoln-area director of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
"The reality is if you claim to be a follower of Christ, you will be at odds with a variety of world views and beliefs," he said. "Any institution that claims to be inclusive like Stanford - or the University of Nebraska-Lincoln - is going to have a problem with an outspoken Christian."
But that doesn't make it right, he said, comparing it to denying someone a further interview because of his or her sexual orientation.
In fact, Brown said, discrimination against Christians is likely happening nationwide.
Alex Van Riesen, a team leader of the Stanford chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, said it's not the first time he's seen discrimination against Christians on Stanford's campus. But he wouldn't name specific examples.
"I don't hold the university to a Christian standard for how to make decisions," he said. "I'm under no illusion the school is operating as a Christian entity."
Meanwhile, it's ironic a prestigious school founded on religious principles is no longer welcoming to born-again Christians, Brown said.
"I wasn't upset with (the) decision to choose another candidate over me," Brown wrote in Sharing the Victory. "But I was shocked at the reason and that the university was that up-front in telling me the reason.
"They seemed to have no notion of squelching or eliminating one because of his representation of Jesus Christ."
To some, this also suggests a double standard at the university, which changed its mascot from an Indian to the Cardinal in the early 1970s in response to claims of racial insensitivity.
That move didn't help Brown any.
Ryan Wilkins, Association of Students of the University of Nebraska president, said Brown was entitled to his own opinions, religious or otherwise.
"The Stanford decision sends a dangerous message," Wilkins said. "He's a football coach. Judge him on whether his players play well on the field, whether his players respect him or whether his players graduate.
"Don't hire or disrespect a man because he carries a Bible in his suitcase."
Stanford student leaders in the gay and gay-allied community admitted it was tricky to delineate between banning someone who might bring discriminatory tones to campus and discriminating against that person based solely on beliefs he or she holds.
"Stanford is one of those places where we want everyone to have a voice," Wooten said. "Where do you draw the line?
"The line can be drawn when it starts hurting other people."
Pat Tetreault, co-chairwoman of the Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns at UNL, agreed everyone was entitled to his or her opinion. She blamed what she called the current discrimination in Nebraska partly on differing ways of interpreting religious doctrine.
"We shouldn't be discriminating on religion either," she said. "But you get into a slippery slope on whose belief system you value more."
So, what lies ahead for Brown?
Will he seek other coaching jobs, and - perhaps more importantly - will he get them?
"I'm thrilled at Nebraska," he said. "The state is a wonderful place."
But Brown has interviewed at other schools over the years, and he admits religion was a factor in at least one other case.
He thinks about it. He questions himself every day, he said.
"The question is: Am I willing to water down my faith to gain in this world, or do I sacrifice my faith for the calling?
"If I want to interview for a head coaching job, should I erase (my religious beliefs) off my resume? Every day, there's the temptation. ...
"But no, this world's not worthy. ... This thing about following Jesus Christ isn't flag football. It's for real. Let it go. You can't straddle the line."
"Wow, it would be really hard for him here," said Courtney Wooten, a sophomore sociology and studio art major and social director of Stanford's Queer Straight Social and Political Alliance. "He would be poorly received by the student bodySatanic minions in general."
How many straight Christian students are there? The school is all queer? What about the straight students? Who speaks for them? Nobody? They must bow down and worship Satan , too?
"If I'd been discriminated against for being black, they would've never told me that," Brown said. "They had no problem telling me it was because of my Christian beliefs. That's amazing to me."
welcome to their definition of "tolerance", my rightous friend.
"Don't hire or disrespect a man because he carries a Bible in his suitcase."
On the contrary, admire his wisdom.
"We shouldn't be discriminating on religion either," she said. "But you get into a slippery slope on whose belief system you value more."
God, or Satan. Chose thou, whom will you serve?
Yesterday's FR debate about the Bush Administration appointing four homosexual activists to high government jobs brought out the usual FR "gay friendlies" to issue pronouncements of "if they can do the job...."
Interesting that the homos don't feel the same way as the "friendlies."
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)
bwhahahahahahaha.
I lived near the Stanford campus for 14 years. Yes, they do see a christian viewpoint as discriminatory.
A friend who graduated from Stanford in 1989 described the commencement prayer as follows: God, if you want to be called God, bless this day, if you care,...........and it went downhill from there. This was a pastor from a "mainline" local church.
This is illegal per federal civil rights legislation.
Uhhhhh... Isn't this, like, blatantly illegal?
It may well be time for Christians to announce a type of 'Moral Jihad' against the gays and their 'we are gueer and we're proud of it' social agenda.
Isn't it strange that after allowing the gays and liberals to force their beliefs into the colleges and government we find ourselves locked out? Now we have clear discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs and suddenly that is ok, where before we were accused of it but there realy were no examples of it. Freedom of Choice becomes the freedom to choose death for a baby, who certainly was never given a choice. And in the name of "Diversity" Christianity is excluded. Know where else you see this kind of double speak? Islam. Guess what Virginia, there is evil in the world and it is organized. The war on God has begun in earnist.
Ironic?...no.
Unbelievable?...no.
Pure unadulterated progressive hypocrisy?....YES!
FMCDH!
"Wow, it would be really hard for him here," said Courtney Wooten, a sophomore sociology and studio art major and social director of Stanford's Queer Straight Social and Political Alliance. "He would be poorly received by the student body in general."
Does this airhead really speak for the student body? If so, Stanford's standards are down considerably.
It's about par for an art student, though.
Why am I having trouble believing this? What's a "huge number" to this wench? Three?
"The announcement by Princeton this afternoon that it was hiring Dr. West, also a religion professor."
A great L.B. Chinese restaurant which has an established family clientele and people bring their kiddies for an early dinner.... However, gays have taken over the restaurant. I was there at 7:30 one evening and young gays were there making obscene remarks and noises ... Also they were saying loudly, 'My God, Look at all the breeders ... referring to familes with children.
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