Gambling Industry, Education Board Push for Casino Training at Colleges
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
December 16, 2003
(AgapePress) - The Southern Baptist Convention is calling on the governor-elect of Mississippi to oppose the legalization of gaming-related classes in public universities.It has been a decade since casino gambling was legalized in the Magnolia State. There are now more than two dozen licensed casinos in the state. The Mississippi Gaming Commission reports that since July 1992, the gambling industry has generated almost two billion dollars in tax revenue for the state.
Now the Mississippi College Board, which oversees management and control of the universities, is pushing to get casino management courses in the state's eight public colleges. But groups like the Mississippi Baptist Convention adamantly oppose the idea. Jimmy Porter, executive director of the MBC's Christian Action Commission, believes involvement in a business or industry that exploits people is unbiblical.
"For us, the ends do not justify the means," he explains, "so consequently any industry that creates more hardships on individuals certainly is not something that we want to be a part of, nor do we want to support it. Secondly, it's been proven over the years that gaming does increase divorces, child abuse, and domestic abuse."
Under a Mississippi Gaming Commission statute, gaming schools cannot be located on public property and no public school can teach or train individuals to become gaming employees. Universities are permitted to courses that prepare students for some casino-related jobs, such as hospitality management, but they cannot be gaming-specific.
Porter says because the gambling industry also causes the proliferation of crime, Governor-elect Haley Barbour and the state legislature should oppose gaming-related courses. Barbour and state lawmakers, he says, need to hear from Christians who oppose the idea of their tax dollars being used to fund casino-management training programs.
"We will certainly be communicating to him our opinion about it, and I would hope that he would step in and do something about it -- and also along with our legislators because for the last five years they've turned this down," he says. "This bill to legalize casino classes has died five years in a row in the legislature, so hopefully some of them would step forward also."
Newspaper reports indicate that some members of the College Board are convinced legislative approval is not necessary. They believe the Board's jurisdiction extends to the courses offered by the schools as well. Porter, though, believes if given the opportunity to vote on the matter, the majority of Mississippians would reject casino classes.
According to The Clarion-Ledger newspaper, one out-of-state college -- Tulane University -- is offering a casino resort management program at its campus in Biloxi. Nine casinos are located in that coastal city.
