Campus CrossWalk Magazine: 2007 Spring Issue -- Trends: News You Can Use

Transgender, gay college students are now receiving dormitory options across the nation where men and women are allowed to share a room on campus. Currently, about 20 universities offer students the option and about a dozen schools, including Harvard, are considering it, according to Jeffrey Chang, associate director of the National Student Genderblind Campaign--started in 2006 “to encourage gender-neutral housing.” The University of California at Riverside started allowing this type of housing in 2005. Chang went on to say “Campuses are a huge symbol for where our country is going in terms of gender relations.” Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/10/07, emphasis added)
The Christian Law Students Association (CLSA) at Pace Law School was denied recognition in the fall of 2006 by the Student Bar Association at Pace because “it felt that the group’s Christian nature, as expressed in its constitution, would be unwelcoming to non-Christians.” Law School Dean Stephen Friedman intervened in January of 2007 and decided to recognize the Christian group. On February 26, 2007, Pace announced “that it officially recognizes the Christian group (CSLA).”
(www.thefire.org 2/27/07)
A U.S. Navy judge, Anita K. Baker, has ruled that a commanding officer has the right to punish a chaplain for preaching an “exclusive sermon” with Christian overtones during a memorial service for a sailor who died in a motorcycle accident. The case involved Navy Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt who said the sailor had professed faith in Jesus Christ and the service was advertised as a Christian service. The chaplain said he believes the navy is contradicting its own code and went on to say “this proves they’ve been lying to the public for six months saying we have total freedom to quote the Bible and pray in Jesus’ name during optional worship.” (Christian Examiner, 8/06)
A Columbia University study of teen lifestyles found that among teenagers who shunned dinner with mom and dad, “72 percent were more likely to use illegal drugs, smoke and drink alcohol.”
(ptcealerts@parentstv.org, 11/10/06)
Support for same-sex marriage in California has increased by nearly 50 percent in the past two decades according to analysis of the Field polls during 1985 to 2005. In 2005, about half of Californians disapprove of same-sex marriages but 43 percent approve. In 1985 only 30 percent of people surveyed by the Field poll approved. “Age is one of the strongest predictors of attitude on same-sex marriages. Currently acceptance ranges from 25 percent among those born before 1940 to 58 percent among those born in the 1980s, according to the report.” (Press-Enterprise, 3/8/07)
On-campus Christian student organizations at schools like Georgetown University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been recently banned as recognized groups. They are now fighting back with help from attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund’s Center for Academic Freedom (ADF). InterVarsity and Asian Baptist Student Koinonia at Georgetown have been using ADF along with the Roman Catholic group at Wisconsin. (www.alliancedefensefund.org, 3/11/07, 9/11/06)
Religious content on television was, in 2005-2006, shown less frequently and more negatively than ever according to the annual study by the Parents Television Council. “The results of this study clearly show that the entertainment industry is not reflecting the strong religious beliefs of Americans in its television programming. The industry is in fact hostile to people of faith – no matter if the person is Christian, Jewish or Muslim,” said L. Brent Bozell, president of the PTC. 84 percent of adults are not offended when they hear references to God or the Bible on network television shows, and 51 percent say networks should develop shows with positive messages – and even refer to God and the Bible according to a Zogby/American Bible Society poll. There were half as many portrayals of religion in 2005-2006 (1,425) as in 2003-2004 (2,344). (ptcealerts@parentstv.org, 12/14/06)
University of Nebraska professor, Carson Holloway, in reference to the entertainment industry selling sex as a primary goal, explains “top entertainers are teaching children that sex should be understood exclusively as a source of bodily pleasure and therefore devoid of any limiting responsibilities, like permanent commitment, or ennobling aspirations, like procreations.” (Orange County Register, 11/27/06)
A great win for marriage in the state of Washington came through a five-to-four ruling by the state supreme court. The justices ruled that “the legislature was entitled to believe that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples furthers the State’s legitimate interest in procreations and the well-being of children.” (frcpub@frc.org, 7/25/06)

Rick Rowland, DMin. is the Assistant Swimming Coach at California Baptist University and is the External College Age/Young Adult Leader for the Murrieta Church of Christ serving students at Mt. San Jacinto College.