Tufts Christian Fellowship Placed on Probation
If you'll recall, the Tufts University chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship was banned from campus back in April after it blocked a bisexual student from holding a leadership post. And then the group was reinstated in May on procedural grounds, but with the caveat that the student's complaint be heard again in the fall. Last week, the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (the same board that banned the group last year, but with different members now) placed the group on probation, saying that it had discriminated against the bisexual student. The decision is almost universally being called confusing (even by The Chronicle of Higher Education—but you can only read its story if you already subscribe), but here's the short of it: the group would have been able to block the bisexual student because of her belief that gay sex isn't necessarily wrong, but it had already approved heterosexual student leaders who believe gay sex isn't necessarily wrong. So by discriminating against the bisexual student, the group was discriminating against her orientation and behavior—not her beliefs. So now the group is on probation until the end of the academic term and has two weeks (now one) to redraft its constitution to line up with the school's nondiscrimination policies. Both gay activists and Christians at the school are upset with the ruling. Meanwhile, the administration isn't talking. "I am still chewing on this," Provost Sol Gittleman tells the Tufts Daily newspaper. There's plenty more available in that publication's archives—letters and opinion pieces galore. As of this morning, there was still no comment on the Tufts Christian Fellowship Web site.

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