Instead of shaking hands with their school’s interim president when receiving diplomas Sunday, about 50 Seattle Pacific University graduates handed him a rainbow flag instead. For some students, the commencement ceremony was an opportunity to object to the Christian school’s policy against hiring LGBTQ employees.
Last month, the school’s governing board of trustees upheld a policy barring staff members from engaging in same-sex activities or extramarital sex.
Distributing flags at graduation is just one way students and other supporters have been protesting SPU’s “Employee Lifestyle Expectations,” which they call discriminatory. For weeks, shifts of protesters have conducted a sit-in outside the office of interim president Pete Menjares. They’re also preparing a lawsuit against the trustees.
Seattle Pacific University Grad: ‘We’re Not Going to Stop Until the Policy Changes’
Graduate Chloe Guillot, a theology student who plans to return to Seattle Pacific University for grad school, tells CNN the flag idea resulted from student discussions about not wanting to shake the president’s hand. While handing him a flag, Guillot, who is non-binary, told Menjares, “We’re not going to stop until the policy changes.”
Distributing gay-pride flags was a way to be “very public, visible, and respectful” as they graduated, says participant Pamela Styborski. “We couldn’t go out being silent.”
In a statement, Menjares said, “It was a wonderful day to celebrate with our graduates. Those who took the time to give me a flag showed me how they felt, and I respect their view.”
On social media, some people say they “love” the flag idea and think those SPU students are “brilliant.” Others express dismay by what occurred at a Christian university. One tweets: “The only thing we’re missing is a photo of the stack of the grooming flags in the trash can.”
Seattle Pacific University Wants to Maintain Links to Its Denomination
SPU is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church USA, which doesn’t govern or control the school but does provide some financial support ($324,000 during the past 40 years). The denomination has warned that SPU will lose its affiliation if the policy changes.
About upholding the policy, trustees board chair Cedric Davis said in May, “While this decision brings complex and heart-felt reactions, the Board made a decision that it believed was most in line with the university’s mission and Statement of Faith and chose to have SPU remain in communion with its founding denomination, the Free Methodist Church USA, as a core part of its historical identity as a Christian university.”
