By The Beacon Editorial Board
It is not the practice at our university to discriminate anyone based on any category, whether sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation. This, of course, is a good thing.
But for Thomas Aschenbrener, president of the Northwest Health Foundation, the school's de facto stance was not enough.
Due to his concern over UP's refusal to sign another foundation's nondiscrimination agreement, he declined to appear at the School of Nursing's 75th anniversary to receive an award.
This is unfortunate, for Aschenbrener and his foundation have been valuable stewards for heath care at UP and beyond, and because it raises questions about how the University portrays itself and conducts business.
The school's written policy does not include sexual orientation in its wording.
But since the school would never discriminate in practice, the wording is just semantics, right?
We would say no.
Actions are exponentially more powerful than words, but don't count words out.
While the school has stated, and we would hope, it would never discriminate, going by the bare minimum of the law raises ugly and unfair questions about, "well, they still could, couldn't they?"
UP should not stop short of simply following the law when the law falls short.
The administration says it doesn't need to cover every conceivable group in its clause, but if that's the case, why not take out the clause protecting against discrimination on race or sex? Why not remove the policy altogether if the administration will simply follow it in practice?
The reason is that policies like these make it crystal clear the moral views and protections the University upholds. Without it, the prevailing uncertainty can create a climate of fear.
Those policies are in place so no one has to fear the possibility of discrimination.
Without that commitment, it leaves the option for discrimination open, whether or not it would be exercised.
In defense, the administration holds that UP's policy follows other Catholic universities' nondiscrimination statements and practices. However, other Catholic universities like Gonzaga, Santa Clara and Seattle University all include in their nondiscrimination policies clauses protecting the sexual orientation of persons.
UP's policy omits this clause, and the university would be prudent to ammend its discrimination policy to cover sexual minorities.
The school's actions already indicate a desire for an open policy, and having it in writing will cement that commitment.
We are happy that Aschenbrenner feels more comfortable after speaking to University President Beauchamp.
We hope the school will follow through with the conversation they had Monday and take a solid stance on our school's discrimination's policy, both for the sake of our future with organizations like the NWHF and for the sake of our school's reputation and culture.
