University in Arkansas blocks access to gay student website
Sat. March 5, 2011 11:33 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Searcy, Ark. -
Students using computers on Harding University's network are no longer able to access huqueerpress.com, a website for gay and lesbian students.
The school is a private, Christian college, and is legally able to control campus computer systems in any way the administration wants.
But some students are outraged. On the huqueerpress.com website, they write about how they've felt in the Harding University environment. One said he'd contemplated suicide.
"I had already gotten the gun. It was under my dorm room bed," one wrote.
Dr. David Burks released this statement to a local TV station:
"Harding University is a private Christian college whose mission and policies are rooted in biblical principles. All students are given a copy of the handbook and know about our mission and policies before their first day on campus. The student handbook states that the university holds to the biblical principle that sexual relationships are unacceptable to God outside the context of marriage and that sexual immorality in any form will result in suspension from the university."
About 7,000 students attend the college, which is located in Searcy, Ark.
The school is a private, Christian college, and is legally able to control campus computer systems in any way the administration wants.
But some students are outraged. On the huqueerpress.com website, they write about how they've felt in the Harding University environment. One said he'd contemplated suicide.
"I had already gotten the gun. It was under my dorm room bed," one wrote.
Dr. David Burks released this statement to a local TV station:
"Harding University is a private Christian college whose mission and policies are rooted in biblical principles. All students are given a copy of the handbook and know about our mission and policies before their first day on campus. The student handbook states that the university holds to the biblical principle that sexual relationships are unacceptable to God outside the context of marriage and that sexual immorality in any form will result in suspension from the university."
About 7,000 students attend the college, which is located in Searcy, Ark.