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The Baptist Collegiate Ministries building at Vanderbilt University(Photo courtesy of the BCM) The Baptist Collegiate Ministry at Vanderbilt University decidedthis week it cannot abide by the school's nondiscrimination policyafter all. The group applied for and received recognition as an officialstudent organization in April. But the ministry will decline thatstatus on principle, the executive director of the TennesseeBaptist Convention announced on Monday. In an e-mail to members of the group's Executive Board, Randy Davissaid he did not realize until April 22 that the application forrecognition required the organization to sign an affirmation of thenondiscrimination policy. The affirmation pledges the group's leaders will "abide by" thepolicy, which requires official student organizations to allow allmembers to seek leadership positions, even if they don't share thegroup's beliefs. "To abide by that literally and practically means that I adopt thispolicy as my own," Davis said on Tuesday. "That's what I had tograpple with on a personal basis." Davis knew the student group had applied for official recognitionbut did not examine the application until a Tennessee pastor senthim a Tweet asking whether the group had signed the affirmation.When he read the document, Davis said he knew the ministry couldn'tcomply. Last month, Bill Choate, who heads collegiate ministries for theTennessee Baptist Convention, said the policy did not present anyproblems and did not prevent the group from carrying out itsmission. But on Monday, Davis acknowledged the policy might forcethe group to accept student leaders who did not believe in Christ. "That concerns me about where this could be heading in the daysahead with the administration of Vanderbilt," Davis said. Rejecting the nondiscrimination policy became a matter ofprinciple, Davis said. Echoing comments previously made by Fr. JohnSims Baker, the chaplain of Vanderbilt Catholic, Davis blamedschool officials for the exodus of Christian groups. "The administration has driven us to this point of rejecting thatstatus," he said. The Baptist's change of heart leaves Reformed University Fellowshipas the only large evangelical Protestant student group remaining oncampus next year. Thirteen Christian groups opposed the policy fromthe beginning, saying it restricted their religious freedom. Schoolofficials say 17 others have complied with the policy but declinedto name them all. Some of the policy's opponents criticized BCM and RUF forcomplying. Standing together, the Christian organizations had achance to persuade Vanderbilt administrators to back down, theysaid. But school officials have shown no sign of abandoning the policy,despite appeals from students, pressure from alumni and the threatof legislative action. On April 30, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill thatwould have revoked Vanderbilt's $24 million in state funding unlessthe school gave religious groups an exemption from the policy. Twodays later, Gov. Bill Haslam announced his intention to veto thelegislation, saying it violated the principle of limitedgovernment. As a private institution, Vanderbilt is free to adoptpolicies that might infringe on the religious freedom protectionsprovided by the U.S. Constitution. The Congressional Prayer Caucus also weighed in on the situationthis week, sending letters of protest to Vanderbilt ChancellorNicholas Zeppos and Board of Trust Chairman Mark Dalton. A similarappeal the group sent to Zeppos in October had no effect. Despite all the opposition, Vanderbilt administrators maintain thepolicy does not violate religious groups' freedom to operatewithout interference. The groups remain free to elect the leadersthey want, administrators say. But they have not explained what would happen if a group chose toremove a leader because he or she decided to abandon the group'sbeliefs. The school decided to update its nondiscrimination policyrequirements last year after a student accused Christian fraternityBeta Upsilon Chi of expelling him over his beliefs abouthomosexuality. Davis said he was cautiously optimistic about his ministry'sability to continue ministering to the Vanderbilt community. Unlikemost Christian groups, the BCM owns its own building on campus,where its students will continue to meet next year. But without alisting on the student organization website or access to eventsdesigned to give students information about all groups, educatingnew students about the ministry will be difficult, he said. "We have some students that will be coming back and can help. But Iknow that it's going to be a much harder work.". We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China IPL Spare Parts , Body Shaping Machine Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Intense Pulsed Light Laser.
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