A campus Christian group that receives funding from the student activity fee is coming under scrutiny after a student was asked by advisors to step down from its leadership team when he told them that he had openly accepted his homosexuality. This incident is also raising questions about the effectiveness of campus mechanisms for addressing instances of discrimination.
Chris Donohoe '09, who joined the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship when he was a freshman, said he had been openly struggling to reconcile his sexuality with his faith in Chi Alpha before he was asked to step down from the leadership team by Matt and Tracy Herman, the organization's pastors. The Hermans, both members of Chi Alpha at Missouri State University before graduating in 2002, became Cornell Chi Alpha's campus pastors in 2006.
The leadership team consists of 12 or 13 especially dedicated students who lead bible studies, teach and are "good examples," according to Danielle D'Ambrosio '10, Chi Alpha's president. The leadership team differs from titled leadership positions because students do not have to apply to be part of the team.
Before joining the leadership team, Donohoe was vice president during his junior year. To enter a titled position in Chi Alpha, students must apply through the Hermans and demonstrate that they uphold certain values, including not engaging in premarital sex, and refraining from drinking alcohol and taking drugs, according to Donohoe.
"I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to be an openly gay man in a Christian organization," Donohoe said.
After Donohoe finished his term as vice president, he was going to be on the leadership team last fall. The Hermans told Donohoe that they were comfortable with his position as long as he did not engage in a relationship. However, after Donohoe met his boyfriend last summer and affirmed his acceptance of his sexuality, the Hermans asked him to step down from the team without consulting the rest of the organization.
"I told them I've thought about [my sexuality] and I'm 100 percent OK with my sexuality. ... I wanted the opportunity to show them I love god and I'm gay and it's OK," Donohoe said.
D'Ambrosio explained that Donohoe was asked to step down because he no longer believed his sexuality was a sin and stopped actively working to overcome it, disregarding the Bible.
"The decision to ask Chris to step down was not that he did something wrong in having homosexual tendencies. [It was because] he no longer thought it was wrong. ... I support the decision fully," D'Ambrosio said.
A number of interesting things happening here. Note the comparison of homosexuality to doing drugs, drinking alcohol, and having premarital sex. Note the pastors' insistence that it wasn't because Donahoe had homosexual DESIRES, its because he had homosexual PRACTICES. Desire is okay, but action is not. But then the organization President says it's also not because he did something "wrong," but that he stopped believing what he was doing was wrong! So it's okay to have desires, and okay to practice, as long as you believe you're a sinner in the end. Sigh. Fucking religious wonks.
I am reminded here of a situation at UNC Chapel Hill when a Christian Fraternity -- Alpha Iota Omega -- refused to sign an anti-discrimination policy required of all student groups who received campus funds. They claimed religious discrimination, and then university eventually caved and revised the policy to allow religious and political organizations the right to discriminate.