“Librarian at Shorter University Quits over ‘Lifestyle Statement’ Requirement; 60 Staffers Leave Georgia Baptist School”
A tenured librarian at a Georgia Baptist university has resigned after refusing to sign a “lifestyle statement” against homosexuality, adultery, premarital sex, drug use and drinking in public.
Michael Wilson, who worked at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., for 14 years, resigned last week, according to the website Inside Higher Ed.
“It’s a matter of conscience,” he told the website.
Wilson came to Shorter as a librarian in 1998, after working in public library systems and part-time in academic settings. It was his first full-time professional job, he said, and he was the college’s first full-time librarian for its growing population of adult and professional students on a satellite campus in Atlanta.
He was never asked about his sexuality in his job interview, or in any official capacity, he said. But he didn’t conceal it, either, and he had no qualms about working for a Baptist university; nobody seemed to care. By the time he was awarded tenure six years ago, many of his colleagues probably knew he was gay, he said.
Filed under: Interviews, Libraries, News, Profiles, Public Libraries
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
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