In a statement on Friday, the board said officials never got approval to remove language from the student standards of conduct that prohibited same-sex relationships. The board also said they were standing firm in their convictions and will never “capitulate to outside pressures, be they legal, political, or social.”

Azusa Pacific University’s Board of Trustees has reinstated a ban on LGBT relationships. The decision comes one week after the Christian university had announced that it was going to lift its ban on same-sex relationships among students.

In a statement on Friday, the board said officials never got approval to remove language from the student standards of conduct that prohibited same-sex relationships. The board also said they were standing firm in their convictions and will never “capitulate to outside pressures, be they legal, political, or social.”

“Last week, reports circulated about a change to the undergraduate student standards of conduct. That action concerning romanticized relationships was never approved by the board and the original wording has been reinstated,” the APU Board of Trustees said its statement posted on the university’s website.

“We pledge to boldly uphold biblical values and not waver in our Christ-centered mission,” the board added. “We will examine how we live up to these high ideals and enact measures that prevent us from swaying from that sure footing.”

In response to the board’s decision, Denny Burk, professor of biblical studies at Boyce College, the undergraduate school of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, said: “This is good news for Azusa. There will be tough days ahead as they still have students who support homosexual relationships and who will be disappointed by this news. Nevertheless, the trustees made the right decision. Let’s hope and pray they stick to it.”

The student newspaper Zu Media reported on Sept. 18 that officials at the university had decided to lift its ban on romantic relationships for LGBT students starting this fall following dialogue between students and the administration, and years of efforts to that end.

LGBT activists had long called for the change, and held a vigil in November 2017 for a former employee who sued the university for wrongful demotion, claiming he was harassed and assaulted by colleagues who believed he was gay.

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