Seven Christian colleges across South Carolina have sought and received exemptions from federal Title IX laws — exemptions some students say allowed schools to fire them from campus jobs based on their sexual orientation.
Stephen Lovegrove and Kellen Haas found out about those policies the hard way.
They grew up in different towns, went to different colleges and studied different subjects, but their early experiences as undergraduate students at conservative Christian colleges were remarkably similar.
In 2013, after Lovegrove posted a series of personal stories on social media sites about his experience as a gay Christian, he said he was fired from his campus job as a resident adviser.
He was a sophomore and was studying to become a pastor at Charleston Southern University. He was heavily involved with campus ministry groups and was starting to think about running for a student government position.
He already had come out to his pastor, his campus ministry supervisors and fellow residence life co-workers.
“I was in a position where I was not trying to keep this a secret from people at this school,” Lovegrove said.
After his videos were posted online, Lovegrove was called in for a meeting with the school’s director of residence life and the campus ministry pastor.
“I especially felt like who I was as a student didn't matter, only the university's reputation did,” Lovegrove said, “because me being a gay student was not a problem for them. But me telling my story publicly they called a liability."
A school official said that Lovegrove wasn’t fired and was offered a different student position with equal pay in the same department.
Their actions came because he was serving in a leadership role while publicly promoting sexuality that is contrary to the private Christian school’s beliefs, The Post and Courier previously reported.
“Like all South Carolina Baptist colleges and universities, we adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. Our campus community offered him love, prayer, and support during his time as a CSU student, and we reaffirm our practice and belief that all are welcome at Charleston Southern University,” said Jenna Johnson, the university’s assistant director of integrated marketing.
After meeting with school officials over the summer, Lovegrove transferred to Winthrop University that fall, where he completed his degree.
Kellen Haas has a similar story.
Kellen Haas of Mount Pleasant packs as she heads to Clemson University, where she is majoring in Computer Science, Monday, Dec. 31, 2018. File/Grace Beahm Alford/Staff
In 2017, Haas said she and her girlfriend at the time were both fired from their jobs as residence advisors at Anderson University.
They both were offered positions shortly before the spring semester of their freshman year ended.
A few weeks into their job training, shortly after Haas informed senior leadership in residence life that she and her girlfriend were dating, Haas said she and her girlfriend were both fired.
“Because of the nature of our relationship, they didn't think we were fit to hold a leadership position at the university,” Haas said.
Andrew Beckner, the executive director of public relations at Anderson University, said he was unable to comment on any specific student’s employment record, but said that the school does not make admissions or employment decisions based on things like sexual orientation or gender identity.
“As a private Christian University, we have a distinct mission, and it’s vital that we remain able to educate our students according to that mission," Beckner said. "And that at times can be different from those of other universities.”
“We welcome students from diverse backgrounds. And that includes students who identify as LGBTQ. Our mission as a Christian university includes caring for and showing compassion for all students, regardless of their orientation, or however else that they identify,” he added.
Haas stayed at Anderson for another year before transferring to Clemson last August.
“Word travels like wildfire, especially when it's something that's this dramatic,” she said. Before long, she felt as if everybody at the school knew about what had happened.
“I mean, I was probably just being insecure about it. But it felt like I got dirty looks everywhere I went,” she said.
This environment, combined with dissatisfaction with her major, led Haas to transfer after she completed her sophomore year.
Flying ‘under the radar’
It’s been almost 50 years since Title IX was signed into federal law, prohibiting sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of federal financial aid.
Although it doesn't explicitly mention sexual orientation or gender identity, the law has been widely interpreted to prohibit discrimination based on those things, according to College of Charleston associate professor of political science Claire Wofford.
"However, recently the Trump administration in a regulation stated that they would no longer consider transgender students protected under Title IX," she said.
There has not yet been a definitive U.S. Supreme Court ruling about whether Title IX protects gay and lesbian students or protects students based on their gender identity, Wofford said.
Religiously affiliated colleges and universities can acquire an exemption from some Title IX provisions by sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Education.
“As far as I can tell, religious institutions have been given a lot of deference in this area, meaning if they ask for it, they get the exemption,” Wofford said. “And it's kind of flown under the radar.”
Religious schools can also receive exemptions from Title IX based on things like students’ marital status, if they’ve had sex outside of marriage or whether they’ve had an abortion.
Seven South Carolina colleges have been granted religious exemptions from some Title IX provisions: Anderson University, Bob Jones University, Charleston Southern University, North Greenville University, Southern Wesleyan University, Columbia International University and Erskine College.
Even if a religious college hasn’t formally requested an exemption, they still might be able to get one later if they needed one.
“The way the statute is actually written, a school can sort of come back later,” Wofford said. “Just because they didn't have the exemption granted doesn't mean they are not exempt.”
Charleston Southern University first requested Title IX exemptions in December 2014. The school’s letter explained how some of the law’s provisions would not be consistent with the South Carolina Baptist Convention's religious tenets.
The letter further explained how the school is governed by 25 board members elected by the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
The school’s waiver was granted around three months later.
Anderson University requested its exemptions in 2015, and its waiver was officially granted about a month later.
Wofford said Title IX itself is “barely common knowledge” for most people, much less its exceptions for religious institutions.
“I would say most students have virtually no awareness that such a thing exists,” she said.
Lovegrove said he didn’t. Haas didn’t either.
“I was blindsided. I never thought it would affect me,” Lovegrove said.
A ‘transformative and vulnerable time’
It’s been around six years since Lovegrove transferred schools.
“On one hand, it’s been a long time since this happened, and on the other hand, it's all still very vivid,” he said, "especially if I'm back in South Carolina.”
Both Lovegrove and Haas had religious upbringings, and both originally thought that religious colleges would be a good fit for them.
"It's a very transformative and vulnerable time in your development," Lovegrove said, adding he didn’t come to terms with his own sexuality privately until his freshman year.
"Going to college and not being aware that coming out was going to be a part of my journey, these colleges did not feel overly strict to me," he said. "These concerns were just not on my radar."
Lovegrove said he was only able to remain on campus over the summer because of free housing he received as a resident advisor.
When Haas started at Clemson last fall, many of her course credits from Anderson didn’t transfer. She expects to stay in school for an extra year before graduating.
“My fifth year will be all loans for me, and you also don't have state scholarships for anything after four years,” she said. She was also looking forward to free housing as a resident advisor.
“Going to Anderson every year was pretty cheap for me because I got a lot of scholarships, but not having pay for housing would have cut off like at least $7,000.”
Haas has two more years left at Clemson, where she’s studying computer science. She expects by the time she graduates, she will have around $25,000 more of extra debt.
“If I had a choice again, I would choose the same thing every single time,” she said.
Lovegrove, who currently travels between Los Angeles and Nashville as a spiritual life coach, said he felt the same way, even though he also had to pay more out of pocket when he transferred to Winthrop University.
"Don't be afraid to look into transferring. It can feel very, very scary at the time," he said, "but it is worth it to give yourself a college experience where you are 100 percent accepted and affirmed."
