Title IX LGBT Exemptions Will Not Disqualify Catholic Colleges from NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will not disassociate from religiously-affiliated colleges, including some Catholic ones, that have requested Title IX waivers. Such waivers would allow schools to discriminate against someone based on the person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression.

LGBT organizations Campus Pride and Soulforce requested, in a letter to NCAA officials, that the NCAA disqualify schools which fail to protect LGBT students by seeking such exemptions. NCAA Chief Inclusion Officer Bernard Franklin responded in his own letter, defending the Association’s record on LGBT issues and deferring the matter of Title IX waivers to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination, has been interpreted recently to include LGBT protections. While religious exemptions are not new, application of these provisions has risen sharply as civil rights based on sexual and gender identity have expanded. 43 colleges requested exemptions in 2015 compared to just one college in 2013.

At least five Catholic colleges are among those who have requested such exemptions, according to a report from the Human Rights Campaign. These include Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, John Paul the Great University in Wyoming, St. Gregory’s University in Oklahoma, and the University of Dallas in Texas.

Schools which receive exemptions are essentially enabled to discriminate at will on the basis of sexual and gender identity. Jocelyn Sun of Soulforce, writing at Believe Out Loud, explained further why such exemptions are so deeply problematic:

“Title IX isn’t just about LGBTQI students in faith-based institutions. . .It’s about debunking the myth that you have to choose between being a Christian and all the other identities God gave you. It’s about educators not having to pick between investing in and building trust with students and making a living. It’s about holding our universities accountable to be the community we’ve dreamed of and are working hard to create.”

The NCAA’s decision not to sanction colleges which have sought Title IX exemptions is puzzling because it seems wrong to include schools in its athletics programs that institutionally advance prejudice. These exemptions also highlight the difference between the many Catholic colleges supportive of LGBT students and the five schools seeking exemptions. While there is a lot of progress to celebrate, there is much work to be done in college athletics and in Catholic higher education.

This post is part of our “Campus Chronicles” series on Catholic higher education. You can read more stories by clicking “Campus Chronicles” in the Categories section to the right or by clicking here. For the latest updates on Catholic LGBT issues, subscribe to our blog in the upper right hand corner of this page.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

March Madness Ending With Catholic LGBT News in the Foreground

Jennifer Azzi

With Villanova University’s win secure for the 2016 men’s college basketball championship, and the women’s championship game scheduled this evening, March Madness is coming to a close for the year. The tournaments are ending, though, with some positive news for LGBT issues in Catholic higher education.

The women’s basketball coach at University of San Francisco (USF), a Jesuit institution, has come out as gay and married.

Jennifer Azzi came out while speaking at an Anti-Defamation League event last Thursday, reported San Jose Mercury News. She announced her marriage to USF assistant coach Blair Hardiek before introducing Rick Welts, president of the Golden State Warriors and the first openly gay executive in the NBA. Azzi said:

” ‘I, too, lived a long time not being 100 percent honest. . .Kind of the don’t-ask-don’t-tell kinda of thing. And it’s so stupid. I don’t know why we do that, but we do that. . .What I realized in watching Rick in his path and his journey is that there is nothing more powerful than living the truth. And the best thing I can do for my team is be authentic and true to myself.’ “

The couple married last August. They have been warmly received by USF players whom they informed, according to San Jose Mercury News.

Azzi has coached at USF for six years. Her players speak well of their coach, who signed a five-year contract extension last summer. Questioned about employing a married gay woman at the Catholic college, USF athletic director Scott Sidwell said:

” ‘We have a commitment to Jennifer. . .We’re going to respect the dignity of each person’. . .

“But Sidwell, who took over after Azzi was hired in 2010, declined to answer specific questions about the announcement and about a coach being married to one of her employees. He described the Jesuit school as an inclusive campus ‘committed to the workplace.’ “

Azzi’s coming out is significant, too, because she is the only openly gay head coach of a Division I basketball program. Her former teammates at Stanford University and from the 1996 Olympic team expressed support, as did other women leaders in college athletics.

For the first time since 1997, USF women’s basketball, under Azzi’s leadership, made it into the NCAA Division I tournament. She is a talented coach and, so far, it seems USF officials are focusing on that quality rather than her newly-announced sexual orientation and marital status. That is good news–especially when more than 60 church employees have lost their jobs since 2008 in LGBT-related employment disputes.

 

This post is part of our “Campus Chronicles” series on Catholic higher education. You can read more stories by clicking “Campus Chronicles” in the Categories section to the right or by clicking here. For the latest updates on Catholic LGBT issues, subscribe to our blog in the upper right hand corner of this page.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry

NEWS NOTES: March 22, 2016

Here are some news items that you might find of interest:

1. Seton Hall University’s Derrick Gordon will become the first openly gay college basketball player to participate in March Madness, the NCAA’s Division I tournament, reported The Huffington Post. Gordon’s decision to transfer to Seton Hall as an openly gay athlete made news last year, happening at the same time that the University fired chaplain Fr. Warren Hall for his support of the “NOH8” campaign.

2. Italian bishops sharply criticized the film “Weekend,” a gay romantic drama from director Andrew Haigh, which premiered in early March. The church owns a sizable number of theaters in Italy, meaning the episcopal condemnation cut down the number of screens the film could appear on and hurt sales initially, reported Variety. 

3. Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, the former head of the Dominicans, said Catholics should be less concerned with what others are “doing in bed” and focus on being a help, not a hindrance to people finding God according to their own path. He firmly rejected marriage equality, however, reported Rappler. Radcliffe said in interview during the 51st International Eucharistic Congress, hosted by the Philippines:

” ‘If you look at what I said, I never approved of gay marriage. I always said the community must be open to gay people, as Pope Francis said, as my own cardinal archbishop in England says. We must be open to welcome anybody. But I never said I believe in gay marriage.’ “

4. An advertisement for the Marian site at Lourdes welcomed couples for Valentine’s Day, including same-gender couples, reported La Depeche. The ad, sponsored by the Diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes, said the celebration is “open to all forms of couples, married, unmarried, homosexual. . .”, though same-gender couples will not receive a church blessing and none had pre-registered according to the report.

–Bob Shine, New Ways Ministry