Open Letter to Belmont University
In response to this, sent to members of the Belmont administration this past Sunday:
Dear President Fisher,
I am writing to you as a member of Belmont University’s 2008 graduating class to express my disappointment and disgust in Belmont’s recent decision to fire women’s soccer coach and mother-to-be Lisa Howe because of her sexual orientation.
First of all, I want to make it clear that I understand that as a private institution, Belmont was well within its right to do this; I am not questioning the legality of the move. I am, however, questioning any sort of policy that would lead the administration to take this action. There is no question in my mind that what Belmont did to Coach Howe and her family was wrong, whether it was in line with university policy or not. Though I realize that Belmont does not endorse same-sex relationships, a person’s sexual orientation should not and does not have any bearing on his or her ability to perform the functions of this job. I cannot understand how an administration can be so fearful of a faculty member setting a bad example for students through her sexuality and yet themselves be so eager to set an example of fear, exclusion and hate.
Furthermore, the fact that Belmont felt the need to lie about the circumstances surrounding her departure in initial media interactions speaks volumes to the integrity of the administration—or lack thereof. Though many will view Belmont’s decision was a courageous stance against sexual immorality, I would argue that those initial lies suggest it was instead quite cowardly. As an alumna whose tuition dollars have funded this institution—not to mention, the phone calls I receive each month to give even more of my money—I have a right to know what I am supporting. Lying about a moral stance, even simply by omitting the truth, indicates that one is ashamed of it. And the administration should be ashamed of its treatment of Coach Howe, because it is nothing short of hatred and fear masquerading as a dangerously self-righteous brand of morality.
Belmont empowered me to make a difference and shaped me into the independently thinking individual that I am today, and it saddens me that I can no longer be a proud supporter of my alma mater in good faith. I want you to know that I will be doing everything I can in the coming months to spread the message of this administration’s bigotry far and wide, even at the risk of devaluing of my own degree. I plan to network with other likeminded students, alumni and supporters to get this story out to as many eyes and ears as I can. Until action is taken to reverse these discriminatory policies, we will be contacting media outlets, donors and prospective students to ensure that Belmont’s reputation accurately reflects its archaic definition of diversity, its perpetuation of hatred and intolerance and most importantly its inability to compete on the level of other higher learning institutions for these reasons.
Sincerely,
Christy Frink
Belmont University Class of ‘08
- 1 year ago
- 9 notes
