- Target:
- St. Edward's University Administration
- Region:
- United States of America
The Campus Ministry of St. Edward's University, a private Catholic university, sponsored a non-profit fair on campus on Sept. 15, 2010. Campus Ministry refused to allow Equality Texas, a gay rights advocacy group, to participate in the fair because the organization supports a state constitutional amendment in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, a position that runs counter to the teachings of the Catholic Church. In statements to the media, the university has endorsed the decision of Campus Ministry.
However, according to its mission statement, the university "expresses its Catholic identity by communicating the dignity of the human person as created in the image of God, [and] by stressing the obligation of all people to pursue a more just world . . . ," and emphasizes the university's commitment to seeking justice and its service to a "culturally diverse student body." By refusing Equality Texas a place at a volunteer fair, the University fails in its commitment to cultural diversity and social justice and upsets many St. Edward's faculty who, whatever their religious identification or lack thereof, embrace the university's mission statement.
Though we, the undersigned members of the St. Edward’s University faculty, acknowledge the importance of the Holy Cross tradition and the Catholic heritage to the university, we oppose the decision to deny Equality Texas's presence at the Sept. 15 non-profit fair.
We believe this decision was antithetical to the university's mission and contrary to the ethic of caring and the commitment to social justice that the mission embodies. We hereby petition the university to initiate a thorough and candid dialogue within the St. Edward’s University community about the relationship between Catholic doctrine, the mission statement, academic freedom, and human rights.
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The Social Justice at St. Ed's petition to St. Edward's University Administration was written by Tim Green and is in the category Civil Rights at GoPetition.