Abstract

The relationship between faith-based institutions and students who identify as LGBTQ+ has attracted considerable attention of late. Most of this scholarly attention, however, has focused upon the students themselves. In this article, we examine the contemporary experience of 371 student affairs leaders (SALs) who serve as the primary mediators between the desires and demands of LGBTQ+ advocates, scholars, and students, and the policies of current administrators. This article reports on previously unexplored data from a larger grounded theory study on Christ-enlivened student affairs to answer the research question: How do SALs at Christian universities approach LGBTQ+ students in light of the Christian mission of their institutions? Data were collected using a qualitative questionnaire of 301 SALs, as well as extended interviews with 70 SALs. Participants’ moral/theological responses included a collection of Christian virtues and rules. They indicated a range of helpful practices—including how they handled campus groups—but generally agreed on the dearth of training and education they had received on the topic. In our discussion, we compare our findings to the recommendations of previous scholars before elaborating our own list of recommendations. Our suggestions for Christian campuses include a re-imagined policy statement, a commitment to education rather than training, a focus on the spiritual needs of students, and some recommendations for LGBTQ+ campus groups.

摘要

以信仰为基础的机构与认定为 LGBTQ+ 的学生之间的关系最近引起了相当大的关注。然而，大多数学术关注都集中在学生自己身上。在本文中，我们考察了 371 名学生事务负责人 (SAL) 的当代经历，他们是 LGBTQ+ 倡导者、学者和学生的愿望和要求与当前管理者的政策之间的主要调解人。本文报道了一个更大的基于基督的学生事务的基础理论研究中以前未探索的数据，以回答研究问题：基督教大学的 SAL 如何根据其机构的基督教使命来接触 LGBTQ+ 学生？使用 301 个 SAL 的定性问卷以及对 70 个 SAL 的扩展访谈收集数据。参与者的道德/神学反应包括一系列基督教美德和规则。他们提出了一系列有益的做法——包括他们如何处理校园团体——但普遍同意他们在该主题上接受的培训和教育不足。在我们的讨论中，我们将我们的发现与之前学者的建议进行比较，然后再详细说明我们自己的建议列表。我们对基督教校园的建议包括重新构想的政策声明、对教育而非培训的承诺、对学生精神需求的关注以及对 LGBTQ+ 校园团体的一些建议。他们提出了一系列有益的做法——包括他们如何处理校园团体——但普遍同意他们在该主题上接受的培训和教育不足。在我们的讨论中，我们将我们的发现与之前学者的建议进行比较，然后再详细说明我们自己的建议列表。我们对基督教校园的建议包括重新构想的政策声明、对教育而非培训的承诺、对学生精神需求的关注以及对 LGBTQ+ 校园团体的一些建议。他们提出了一系列有益的做法——包括他们如何处理校园团体——但普遍同意他们在该主题上接受的培训和教育不足。在我们的讨论中，我们将我们的发现与之前学者的建议进行比较，然后再详细说明我们自己的建议列表。我们对基督教校园的建议包括重新构想的政策声明、对教育而非培训的承诺、对学生精神需求的关注以及对 LGBTQ+ 校园团体的一些建议。