June is always an exciting month. June marks the beginning of summer, it signifies the end of the school term and for the past 20-plus years, has been recognized as international Pride Month.
But for the graduating students at Seattle Pacific University, June has also become a time of protest after the school's Board of Trustees voted to uphold a prejudicial policy that bars the hiring of LGBTQIA+ people.
Graduation is a time for celebration. It marks the competition of years' worth of hard work and stands as the culmination of one of life's most formative chapters.
As the students made their way across the stage to collect their diplomas, about 50 of them chose to hand interim president Pete Manjares a pride flag, instead of shaking his hand.
The protest was orchestrated and organized by Chloe Guillot, an undergraduate/returning grad student of the university.
"So, we thought what can we do instead of that? And the idea came up: why don't we hand out a pride flag?"
"We're not going to stop until the policy changes," she said resoundingly. Unfortunately for Chloe and the rest of her like-minded cohorts, enacting that kind of policy change will be an uphill battle.
This means that the school "reserves the right to prefer employees or prospective employees on the basis of religion" — according to the university's website.
As many people are already well aware, June is recognized internationally as a global Pride Month — a time when LGBTQIA+ peoples celebrate the freedom to be themselves and love who they choose.
"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," Davis wrote.
Davis finally made sure to emphasize that at the end of the day, SPU is a Christian university, and as such it must reflect/uphold its historical Christian values.
While speaking with KING5, university interim president Pete 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."
Since the Board's statement was released, students have been conducting sit-ins in front of Menjares' office. Guillot said that the administration can expect to see much of the same continuing into the summer months.
