Baylor University is so well known in the broader culture – particularly its football team – that you forget sometimes that it’s Baptist.
It will be even easier to forget now, because the school has just removed the only mention of homosexuality in its sexual-conduct policy.
The Waco Tribune-Herald reports:
The university’s sexual misconduct policy previously listed “homosexual acts” among the sexually related conduct that could prompt disciplinary action, along with adultery, fornication, incest, sexual abuse, harassment and assault.
Here’s what the board of regents recently approved:
“Baylor will be guided by the biblical understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God and that physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity,” and that students, faculty and staff relationships should be consistent with that position.
The school won’t say whether that means it approves of married same-sex couples. A spokeswoman told the paper the new language reflects “the university’s caring community.”
It appears Baylor is trying to have it both ways. Though it’s not referring specifically to homosexual behavior in the policy, the spokeswoman noted the “application” section of the policy points to a 1963 Baptist document that refers to marriage as the “uniting of one man and one woman” in a lifelong relationship.
As colleges often do, Baylor is portraying the change as part of a holistic review of many policies that started years ago – not a response to a 2013 Student Senate vote (ultimately vetoed) asking for “homosexual acts” to be removed.
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