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Attending a Christian university means upholding Christian values — an explicit requirement for all ages.
Even though faculty, students and staff alike, maintain different religions and beliefs, Pepperdine University is still a Christian school with rules intended to help all members of its community sustain a respectable lifestyle.
All members of the Christian community, including Seaver faculty, are required to affirm “that sexual relationships are designed by God to be expressed solely within a marriage between husband and wife.” Furthermore, “sexual relations of any kind outside the confines of marriage are inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture … therefore, as a matter of moral and faith witness, all members of the university are expected to avoid such conduct themselves and to refrain from encouraging it in others.” And finally, “sexual misconduct, depending on the facts and circumstances of each case, may result in disciplinary action.”
Faculty members should be required to uphold this policy. As a Christian university, it is only natural, and even necessary for Pepperdine University to demand exceptional sexual conduct from teachers — frequently regarded as some of academia’s brightest and best.
True, faculty members may face disciplinary action if they engage in behavior not compatible with Scripture. But this is a necessary requirement in making sure faculty members encourage upstanding general moral conduct, which includes sexual behavior, from its students, while maintaining upstanding conduct themselves.
The faculty sex policy’s purpose is not intended to examine and invade faculty members’ private lives. Rather, it is a policy geared toward maintaining excellent Christian behavior. If the distinguished faculty of Pepperdine University can’t uphold Christian doctrine, then how are students expected to become fully moral and respectful adults themselves?
The sex policy is only calling for sexual relationships to be expressed within marriage between a man and woman, something Scripture clearly upholds. As students, it is only natural and necessary to require that faculty attempt to maintain Scripture, as many students struggle to adhere to Scripture themselves. Faculty members upholding the sexual policy serve as excellent role models for illustrating that self-control can be maintained and encouraging students to sustain the same sexual conduct.
Although rules are sometimes deemed unfair, rules still must be followed and upheld. Sometimes moral behavior includes sticking to rules although some may view them as unnecessary or invasive. It is secondary that faculty and students agree with the policy; it is imperative that they realize that rules must be followed regardless of one’s personal feelings or beliefs.
A distinguished faculty member who upholds a policy in which he or she doesn’t necessarily believe shows a willingness to think first of students who believe in the policy and are striving to maintain Christian doctrine.
The faculty sex policy is not intended to be invasive and uncomfortable; its purpose is to serve as a role model for Christian excellence for students and faculty alike. Students often look up to faculty as role models academically — as well as socially and morally — and the policy merely enforces what many students hope faculty are already upholding.
Furthermore, the fact that this is a private, Christian university indicates that administrators have a right to restrict hiring – this may include basing decisions on non-academic qualifications. Incoming faculty who are aware of the policy would presumably either have more respect for it, or at least allow it to have greater weight on their decision to join the university.
As a Christina student, I can’t help but think how important it is to know that faculty members are struggling to maintain Christian doctrine, even those who may not necessarily believe in it. This respectful act establishes that faculty members are courteous and caring of what other students with different beliefs might think.
At a Christian University with Christian values, recognizing that the faculty sex policy here at Pepperdine is not meant to be intrusive is effective in understanding that the policy is meant to help, not harm.
Faculty members are great role models. Their compliance to maintain the sex policy shows that students can identify with them, securing the reality that we are all human and all in need of guidance.
Submitted October 30, 2003
MALIBU, CA
