Cumberlands student’s dismissal questioned

The dismissal of a University of the Cumberlands Dean’s List student from school last week for posting on his MySpace.com website that he was gay in violation of university policy is making headlines on television stations across the state, in cyberspace, and even MTV’s website has a story on the matter.
Jason Johnson, 20, of Lexington, was a sophomore at the University of the Cumberlands majoring in theater arts.
Larry Cockrum, director of media relations, confirmed that Johnson was dismissed from the school last week, but said that he wasn’t sure of the exact date.
Cockrum said he couldn’t comment on the reason for Johnson’s dismissal because it is a student disciplinary matter.
It has been widely reported in the media that Johnson’s dismissal came over the posting of his sexual orientation on his website at MySpace.com, however, Johnson’s site has since been shutdown.
Cockrum confirmed Monday that university policy in the student handbook clearly states on page 132 that students can be removed for reasons related to sexual behavior.
“Any student who engages in or promotes sexual behavior not consistent with Christian principles (including sex outside marriage or homosexuality) may be suspended or asked to withdraw from the University of the Cumberlands,” the policy states.
Cockrum said the policy was updated in the most recent version of the student handbook, which he believes was issued this year. He said that in prior handbooks the policy wasn’t “explicitly stated, but insinuated.”
Cockrum said Dr. James H. Taylor, Cumberlands’ President, wouldn’t be commenting on the matter to reporters, but Taylor has released two written statements concerning Johnson’s dismissal.
“At University of the Cumberlands, we hold students to a higher standard. Students know the rules before they come to this institution. We’ve followed our policies and procedures in keeping with our traditional denominational beliefs,” Taylor said in a written statement dated Friday that the News Journal obtained from the media relations department Monday afternoon.
“University of the Cumberlands isn’t for everyone. We tell prospective students about our high standards before they come. We are different by design, and are non apologetic about our Christian beliefs.”
A story on WLEX’s website about the matter further lists Taylor as saying in a written statement, “There are places students with predispositions can go such as San Francisco and the left coast or to many of the state schools.”
When asked about the difference in the released statements, Cockrum said he couldn’t say why that sentence would have been left out of the release from Taylor’s office sent to the News Journal Monday afternoon.
“In light of threatened litigation over University of the Cumberlands’ standards, our legal counsel has advised us to make no comment,” Taylor said in a press statement dated Monday.
Johnson’s attorney, Don Waggener of Lexington, declined to comment on the matter, but did confirm that his client was considering legal action and was exploring “various possibilities” as to where he would attend school in the future.
Television stations in Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green, and West Virginia have run the story, which was also listed on MSNBC’s website and MTV’s website in addition to various internet blogs, many of which seem to deal with alternative lifestyles.
The MTV story noted that Johnson isn’t the first gay student to face such a fate. In January, Michael Guinn, a student at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, was asked to leave because the school became concerned about some of his postings on his Xanga internet journal.