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Groundbreaking Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Impacts Higher Education

Groundbreaking Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Impacts Higher Education
6/29/2015
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Chris Bernardi

With a decision that will rewrite United States history, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that for most colleges, the impact for employees and students will be minimal but uncertainty looms at Christian colleges.

The SCOTUS decision could potentially affect several institutions’ tax-exempt status, accreditation, student housing policies and ability to admit and hire people based on religious convictions. “Many religious institutions simply could not afford to operate” without tax exemptions, said Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president R. Albert Mohler, Jr. “So it’s not a question of tax exemptions, it’s a question of existence.” However, Jennifer E. Walsh, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Azusa Pacific University, was much more optimistic: She believed the ruling would not interfere with religious colleges’ liberties and that “undoubtedly, Christian colleges will find themselves engaging in more discourse” about gay rights.

Colleges in states that had already legalized same-sex marriage have already been receiving benefits for their employees. While same-sex couples will see a possible increase in benefits as a result of the ruling, the same-sex couples receiving cohabitation benefits who choose not to wed could see those benefits disappear, said Indiana University sociology professor Brian Powell. Students from states that had not legalized same-sex marriage and chose out of state schools for a more-progressive institution, could be more inclined to attend a public institution in state, Powell added.

Because colleges have been dealing with a “patchwork of laws across states” over the years, the ruling will make it easier for institutions to support gay students and professors, said Suzanne B. Goldberg, director of the Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic at the Columbia University Law School. Professors considering job opportunities will undoubtedly have an expanded amount of choices. As for advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and other students, they now believe the ruling will allow them to move on to other issues such as access to higher education.

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