LGBTQ Religion
Christian club persecuted by Harvard returns to 'regular status' after yearlong probation
Greg Piper - Associate Editor •April 4, 2019
Administration still refuses to explain what the point was
It spent a year on probation – a punishment with no precedent in Harvard's history – for little more than living out its Christian beliefs, including the purpose of sexuality in God's plan.
Now that Harvard College Faith and Action has finished its penance, the Harvard administration is still refusing to explain what was the purpose of the punishment, and the club itself is cagey on what it any changes it made to placate administrators.
The Harvard Crimson reports that an administration spokesperson won't comment on "the details or outcome of the group's probation," and club leader Eunice Mwabe would only say HCFA has "clarified internal policies and structures to best reflect the convictions of our organization."
The probationary period ended March 9, the administration confirmed, and the club leaders told the Crimson they're back on "regular status." It's not clear if they've done anything differently in the year since the club was put on probation, but Mwabe said they kept doing their weekly worship service Doxa:
"Over the course of the administrative probation HCFA continued to operate with the privileges of all other independent student organizations. We will continue all normal operations and procedures, including weekly Bible Studies and our weekly large-group meeting on Friday nights," Mwabe wrote.
MORE: HCFA put on invented 'probation' for upholding celibacy-for-gays rule
A question Harvard has steadfastly refused to answer is whether it forced HCFA to disaffiliate from its parent ministry Christian Union.
A spokesperson a year ago said it would have to disaffiliate by the time HCFA left probation, a punishment that had no apparent precedent at Harvard. But club leaders have consistently maintained, including this week, that Harvard didn't tell them directly they had to disaffiliate.
At the same time, Mwabe refused to tell the Crimson if Christian Union was still providing funding and resources to the club. Club leaders said in February it continued to be "resourced" by its parent ministry.
The administration has also refused to confirm why it put the club on probation, but the answer is clear to everyone else: HCFA featured a black ex-gay speaker and asked a Bible study leader in a same-sex relationship to leave leadership.
Read the article.
MORE: Harvard's anti-Christian bigotry may be in name only
IMAGE: Dream Perfection/Shutterstock
Greg Piper
Greg spent several years as a technology policy reporter and editor for Warren Communications News in Washington, D.C., and guest host on C-SPAN's "The Communicators." He co-founded the alternative newspaper PUNCH and served as a reporter, editor and columnist for The Falcon at Seattle Pacific University.