2) THE STORY 

Winston-Salem, NC is a medium sized community. We have several schools in the surrounding area. These schools include NC School of the Arts, Wake Forest University, Salem College, UNC-Greensboro, Guilford College, and Winston-Salem State University. 

Susan Parker and Wendy Scott are a lesbian couple, living in Winston-Salem, that have been together for over 18 years. In 1997 they decided to have a covenant service to celebrate their years together. The couple attends a Baptist church that meets in a Chapel located on the campus of Wake Forest University. The Wake Forest Baptist Church is an independent congregation with no formal ties to the University, but they meet in the school’s facilities every Sunday and for special events, such as weddings. 

Susan Parker and Wendy Scott talked to both of the ministers for their church in 1997. The church approved their same-sex union ceremony in January 1999, after congregational votes and much heated debates. Wendy and Susan selected a date. The church booked the ceremony with the school’s chaplain, as they are required to book any event to rent the chapel. Everything seemed fine. Wendy and Susan contacted friends and family. They arranged flights and booked hotel rooms. The school’s Board of Trustees received information about their planed same-sex union ceremony. 

On September 8^th 1999 the Wake Forest University Board of Trustees issued a statement. The statement said, in part, “Since the University is not prepared to render an ecclesiastical judgment, there is no compelling reason not to respect the prevailing collective wisdom of the Christian church regarding this question.” It closed with: “The University does not, however, want to become an involuntary participant or be perceived to have approved such practice, by having its facilities used for this purpose. Accordingly, we recommend that the Administration of the University ask the Wake Forest Baptist Church to refrain from using the University facilities for such purpose.” 

So, even though the minister, congregation, Susan Parker, and Wendy Scott were OK with the ceremony happening, the school has forbidden it to take place. 

This started a huge debate on campus and in local news. The debate even reached national levels. Hundreds of students mobilized on the Wake Forest campus. The students held meetings and rallies. Students even formed a school wide organization for combating this action called SAFE (or Student Association For Equality). A petition with one fourth of the entire undergraduate student population was collected. The undergraduate faculty recently passed a resolution condemning the Board of Trustee’s Statement. The law school faculty wrote a very serious letter to the board of trustees saying, in part, “As members of the Wake Forest Community, we write to share with you our profound disappointment in the trustee committee's decision…In light of the recent recommendation by the University Senate that the university offer benefits for same-sex domestic partners of university employees, which we understand has been forwarded to the Board of Trustees for its consideration, the committee's decision on same-sex unions and the intolerable suppression of WFDD give us reason to fear what may come.” 

The law school faultily refers to WFDD in their statement. WFDD is an on campus NPR radio station. The station was ordered by the school’s administration to stop producing news reports about the recent outrage over the administration’s decision. National NPR is, of course, very upset about this free speech violation. This story has even reached the LA Times. Recently the program director at WFDD resigned, along with several others. 

In an attempt to cool this current controversy the school’s president has “explained” the Board of Trustee’s statement for everyone. He claimed that since the Trustees only “recommended” that the church not perform the ceremony, he sees no reason why the chapel can’t be used. So, for a second time Wendy and Susan have booked their wedding. There could be more problems for this couple or others down the road. Students are also continuing to organize. They are fighting to get the Board of Trustees to retract their statement and live up to the school’s existing non-discrimination policy. Susan Parker should be protected by this policy, being that she is also a student at Wake Forest.