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By the time Julie Catalano entered Tufts University in Medford, Mass., three years ago, she had drifted from her United Church of Christ roots faith and considered herself bisexual. A few weeks into her first semester in 1997, she attended a meeting of Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF), a local affiliate of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. At the meeting she heard, among other things, a speaker articulate TCF's viewpoint that the Bible forbids homosexual behavior. That meeting sparked Catalano's spiritual renewal and participation in campus Christian fellowship. But in April, Catalano filed a discrimination complaint with Tufts when TCF blocked her from holding a leadership post. The Tufts Community Union Judiciary, meeting without a hearing late on a Friday night in April, found TCF guilty of discrimination and banished the group from campus, revoking $5,700 a year in student fees.

"We went to sleep as TCF and we woke up as an effectively banned group without any reasonable due process or fair hearing," says regional InterVarsity leader Curtis Chang. TCF learned of the decision via a midnight voicemail message. But the group successfully appealed the decision on procedural grounds May 16. Chang says he is "overjoyed " that TCF has been reinstated. However, the issue is far from over. Catalano's original complaint will be reconsidered in the fall by a newly elected student judiciary. The dispute has mushroomed far beyond the boundaries of the Tufts campus, which was founded by Unitarians. John Leo, a conservative columnist for U.S. News & World Report, sees nationwide implications:

"The politically correct left now relies far more on coercion than persuasion or moral appeal. The long-term trend is to depict dissent from the gay agenda as a form of illegitimate and punishable expression."

Group members believe they are within their rights to select student leaders who share their conservative theology.

"if TCF were to come out tomorrow with a policy barring all liberal Christians from leadership,"

Catalano says in an exclusive interview with CT, "I would drop my discrimination charge against them."

While a freshman, Catalano discussed her sexual orientation with InterVarsity staffer Jody Chang, who is based at Tufts and married to InterVarsity regional leader Curtis Chang. Chang told her that homosexuality represents part of the brokenness of humanity, that Jesus could help her, and that she should pray about it, Catalano says. Curtis Chang adds that his wife emphasized healing was possible, but may take time. She also loaned Catalano some books by evangelical authors on the subject. Catalano began praying to become heterosexual. During the next two years, Catalano advanced from active participation to being on the TCF student leadership team. Yet she was deeply conflicted about her sexuality, and says that at one point she was suicidal. Early this year, TCF considered Catalano for service on an elite senior leaders team. By then Catalano had concluded that her homosexuality was not in conflict with her reading of Scripture. She then openly disclosed her sexual orientation and her certainty that it presented no conflict with her faith.But the existing senior leaders team (four Tufts students and Jody Chang) decided they would no longer consider Catalano for senior leadership, citing a conflict between her beliefs and those of TCF. Catalano says she was surprised by the decision. She filed a formal complaint on April 9, alleging a violation of university and student government policy against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

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June 12 2000, Vol. 44, No. 7