Things are moving at breakneck speed over at Azusa Pacific University.
Administrators at the California-based Christian college announced a new position on same-sex relationships between students in mid-September, and by the last day of the month, the university’s leaders completely abandoned the controversial stance it touted just days before.
In a statement about as clear as mud, school officials said in September that, though the university was standing by its stated belief that sex “is intended by God to take place only within the marriage covenant between a man and a woman,” it would no longer block students from having same-sex romantic relationships.
Christian University to Allow Same-Sex Relationships Between Students on Campus
Bill Fiala, associate dean of students at APU, suggested the murky shift was “still in alignment with our identity as a Christian institution.”
Then last week, an honors professor at APU, Barbara Harrington, pushed back against the policy change and even demanded the university’s president, John R. Wallace, resign his job “immediately.”
Professor Calls for Christian University President to Resign After Allowing Same-Sex Relationships
None of it mattered anymore by Friday, though, because the university’s leaders decided to change course completely, returning to its previously held position on same-sex relationships.
An important message from APU's Board of Trustees: https://t.co/IuQ1jDeRBI
— AzusaPacific (@azusapacific) September 28, 2018
In a statement sure to give a few ideological whiplash, APU’s board of trustees said the policy change “was never approved by the board and the original wording has been reinstated.”
“We believe our university is the best place for earnest and guided conversation to unfold with all students about every facet of life, including faith and sexuality,” the statement read. “We embrace all students who seek a rigorous Christian higher education and voluntarily join us in mission.”
It continued, “We pledge to boldly uphold biblical values and not waver in our Christ-centered mission. We will examine how we live up to these high ideals and enact measures that prevent us from swaying from that sure footing.”
But now the university is facing backlash from the other side.
You can’t make everyone happy. The leaders at APU found that out in less than a month.