Univ. Revises Hiring Policy Requiring Judeo-Christian Faith
by Mary Rettig
February 2, 2005
(AgapePress) - A university in Ohio affiliated with the Brethren Church has rescinded its hiring policy requiring staff and faculty to be either Jews or Christians. Ashland University's Board of Trustees approved the measure in November but had to revisit it in January after some faculty complained.Steve Hannan, spokesman for Ashland University, says the Board held meetings with faculty and staff to discuss the school's hiring policy. "There were a number of faculty members on campus who were not pleased with the board's decision," he notes, "but it was a very good communication between the two sides."
From those meetings, Hannan says, a new decision emerged. Ashland's Board of Trustees has now passed a policy to have faculty and staff sign a statement agreeing with the Judeo-Christian principles and standards expressed in the school's mission statement and affirming their intention to adhere to those standards.
"The mission statement talks about the institution's Judeo-Christian values, and how they are the foundation of the educational and social environment of the university, and how they shape the character of the institution," the Ashland spokesman explains. Hence, although the Ohio institution will no longer require new faculty and staff to be Christian or be Jewish, they will have to endorse the traditional values common to those faith communities.
The university was founded 1878, after the town of Ashland, Ohio, accepted a proposal from members of the German Baptist Brethren Church to establish an institution of higher education there. Hannan says the school maintains its affiliation with the Brethren Church, along with its long-standing commitment to Judeo-Christian values.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
