Messiah College was notified earlier this year by a national organization named Equality Ride that it planned to visit Messiah’s Grantham campus on Friday, April 13. Equality Ride is an organized bus tour of activists, typically college-age, who schedule unsolicited visits to private and religious colleges, universities, and academies that they consider to have policies that create a disparity between treatment of heterosexual and homosexual students.

President Phipps sent this statement about Equality Ride's stop at Messiah:

I am grateful to the Messiah College community for exhibiting a gracious Christian spirit in keeping with the mission and ethos of Messiah College during Equality Ride's visit on April 13. As I had hoped, Equality Ride's visit proved to be an opportunity for our campus community to model civility, conviction, and compassion.

During our debriefing at the conclusion of the visit, members of Equality Ride expressed their appreciation for Messiah's hospitality and willingness to engage conversation about a complex social issue. They praised our students for being respectful and thoughtful. We agreed that our mutual goals of creating meaningful campus conversation and civil educational dialogue were fulfilled. Though Equality Ride would desire for Messiah College to alter our institutional stance, the College affirms its convictions and understanding of Scriptural teachings on this issue.

Campus leadership expressed appreciation to Equality Ride for honoring the mutual agreements established for their Messiah visit. The most difficult challenge of the day proved to be the presence of an uninvited group, Repent America, who came to campus to protest Equality Ride. We communicated the same behavioral expectations to them as we did to Equality Ride and worked with Repent America throughout the day to ensure that those expectations were met.

A comprehensive media relations plan was implemented to help ensure that the College's response to Equality Ride would be understood and accurately represented by the media. We were pleased when the "Patriot-News" printed a balanced story in their April 13 issue. This story helped establish a balanced tone with the other print and broadcast journalists who covered Equality Ride's visit to the College. Overall, media coverage was minimal – two local television stations and a local Christian radio station reported on the visit.

Messiah College remains committed to educating students to think critically about their personal beliefs from a Scriptural perspective. Recognizing that students may desire continued dialogue to help them process the perspectives of both Equality Ride and Messiah College in relation to human sexuality, this week's "Who's Zoomin' Who?'" at Issachar's Loft – April 17 at 8:30 p.m. – will provide an additional opportunity for students to express their viewpoints in a setting moderated by Messiah educators from residence life and college ministries.

Thank you for your prayers and messages of support during this challenging time.

Warm regards,
Kim S. Phipps