Senator asks for removal of college ‘shame list’

Senator asks for removal of college ‘shame list’

WASHINGTON — An Oklahoma senator who serves as co-chair of the Congressional Prayer Caucus has asked President Donald Trump to remove a “shame list” of faith-based colleges from the Department of Education’s website.

The list, which includes colleges that have asked for an exemption to Title IX discrimination law, was posted more than a year ago by the Obama administration in response to lobbying from LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) activists and politicians who called for “transparency.” Title IX law states that no person can be discriminated against on the basis of gender, but the law provides an exemption for faith-based colleges and institutions that believe complying with the law compromises their convictions.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, sent a letter to the White House mid-April telling Trump the list should be removed in the name of protecting religious freedom. The letter said “the posting has been used to ‘shame’ institutions of higher learning that are structured according to a faith mission and provides an inference that these schools are somehow guilty of discrimination.” (TAB)