Will It Take A Millionaire Donor To Convince Belmont University To Rehire Lesbian Coach Lisa Howe?

I really appreciated Catholic Online explaining why the scripture says it’s perfectly okay for Nashivlle’s Belmont University to push out lesbian women’s soccer coach Lisa Howe, because how else would I know what pages in the Bible to turn to? But even better is Belmont donor Mike Curb of Curb Records (see: Wynonna Judd, LeAnn Rimes), who’s given the school millions of dollars over the years, and wants Belmont to give Howe her job back.

You can find Curb’s name on Belmont’s campus, thanks to the $10 million he gave to have the Curb Event Center built. There’s also the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business program. You might also know his name from that time he served as lieutenant governor of California (briefly stepping in for Gov. Jerry Brown when he considered a presidential run), taking the advice of a one Ronald Reagan. So you might say the fella has some pull when it comes to the school’s affairs, since we all know money has the last word. “It’s time for Belmont to change and to recognize that we have gay students, faculty and staff,” says Curb. “I want to see this board and the school leadership act like Christians.” The remarks coincide with the Faculty Senate passing a resolution in support of gays on campus — though the school remains committed to saying it did not oust Howe because she is gay, or because her partner is pregnant, but because of her lack of moral standards. The Tennessean reports:

He is asking Belmont to rehire former women’s soccer coach Lisa Howe, who he said was fired for being a lesbian. He wrote an e-mail to Faculty Senate President Andrew Miller applauding the group’s unanimous vote Monday in support of Belmont’s gay faculty and students. And he discussed his views with university President Bob Fisher. Fisher said he had no comment about the conversation or about Curb’s concerns.

Curb said discriminating against gays would keep the university from hosting major events such as the debate between then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008. “Belmont has to decide whether they want to be a national recognized university — particularly with their school of music business — or they want to be a church,” he said.

[…] Curb said Belmont’s leaders are out of touch with the reality of life on campus. He said there are many gay students in Belmont’s music and music business programs. No matter what their sexual orientation, Belmont’s music school graduates will work with gay colleagues. “We are trying to pretend that something doesn’t exist when it does,” he said. A member of Woodmont Baptist Church, Curb said there’s no conflict in gay people being Christians. His support of gay rights dates to the late 1970s, when he ran for lieutenant governor in California. At that time, he opposed an initiative that would have banned gay teachers from California public schools. He also is concerned about recent accounts of gay students committing suicide, such as Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who jumped off a bridge after an intimate video of him went online. “I don’t want one of those suicides to occur here,” Curb said.

Generally I wouldn’t be in favor of deep pocketed donors having such a weighty say in the affairs of a university, but this time I’m all for the rich dude with the moral compass screaming from the rooftops. But the only real way for Curb to effect change: threaten to cut off his coffers.