Gay student says college expelled him over conduct
Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006
SILOAM SPRINGS — An openly gay student at John Brown University says he was dismissed from the school earlier this month for violating campus lifestyle guidelines related to his sexual orientation and for material found in his online journals.
Michael Guinn, 22, said he was dismissed from the school on Jan. 13 after meeting with John Brown University administrators.
Guinn said he became a Christian two years ago and chose to attend the university last fall because it’s in his hometown, and because he admired the unique bond the administration had with the student body and because, as the son of a faculty member, his tuition would be free. Guinn’s father, Gary M. Guinn, is an English professor and his mother, Mary Ann Guinn, is the campus nurse, he said.
John Brown University, a private Christian liberal arts university, requires students to agree to behavioral codes, including a promise not to smoke, drink, have sex outside of marriage or gamble while attending the school. Guinn said the administration asked him to adhere to additional behavioral codes not required of other students because he said he is gay and that he ultimately was dismissed from the university on the grounds that he violated that agreement.
John Brown University media relations and student development officials declined to comment on specifics of the school’s agreement with Guinn or its interactions with him.
A statement released Tuesday by Steve Beers, vice president of student development, read : “In all cases, students who have been disciplined have violated agreedupon behavioral expectations. These behavioral expectations are based upon JBU’s Biblical and cultural core values.”
Guinn said he thinks he is the first openly gay student to be admitted to the university. He said he has spent many hours dealing with homosexuality, praying about how to live according to the Bible and how to conduct himself. He said has made the decision to be celibate and said he has never doubted his faith or felt unloved as a child of God.
The university learned that Guinn was gay last summer from an anonymous e-mail that included a link to Guinn’s online journal on the Xanga Web log community, where Guinn makes his sexual orientation known, he said.
In a meeting with the school’s administration the week before school started last fall, Guinn said the administration told him that, in addition to the regular behavior covenant students sign, he was to abide by a separate code of conduct.
Guinn said he was told : not to dress in women’s clothing ; if he participated in sports he could not slap other players on the rear end ; he could not hug or shake hands with other men for too long ; he could not “broadcast” his lifestyle ; he could not tell other students he was gay until he got to know them well.
Beers declined to comment on the specifics of Guinn’s agreement with the university, saying it would be inappropriate to publicly divulge specifics about any particular student.
Guinn said that every few weeks a meeting was called by the administration in which he had to dispel rumors or was admonished for being “too flamboyant.”
Many of the rumors or reports of being too vocal about his orientation were taken from statements made by Guinn on his Internet blogs, he said.
Sometime before classes resumed earlier this month, an anonymous e-mail informed administrators of potentially offensive materials Guinn posted on Facebook, an Internet Web log site. Guinn said he posted pictures of himself in drag from before he attended the university but meant to post the pictures under a private setting that would allow only certain people to access them. Guinn said he mistakenly posted them in way that allowed access to anyone.
School administrators dismissed him from the university, but said he could return next semester, Guinn said.
When asked why Guinn was dismissed, Beers said, “We work redemptively with all students who struggle with behavior issues in their lives and we discipline students after we have credible, substantial and typically repeated evidence of violation of our Community Covenant.”
Guinn said he will not return to John Brown University. He doesn’t know what he is going to do next, but for now he wants to continue working in the cafe in the university student center.
Asked if openly gay students will be admitted to the university in the future, Beers said, “We gain our directive on admissions from our JBU Community Covenant. The Covenant states, making the choice to attend JBU means having a sympathetic appreciation for our guiding principles and choosing to abide by our community expectations.”
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