Cornerstone University is lifting a ban on faculty and staff alcohol use that has stood since the institution was founded 68 years ago. President Joe Stowell told Cornerstone’s 279 employees at a staff meeting that alcohol abstinence — a component of a lifestyle statement that had to be signed every year — is being dropped because a three-year internal study concluded it is “biblically indefensible.”

“Given scripture’s lack of a prohibition against use of alcohol in moderation, we are releasing our faculty and staff to discern what is best for them concerning its use in their personal lives,” said Stowell, in his second year as the university’s president. The change doesn’t apply to students, who remain banned from using alcohol.

Faculty and staff are being told to avoid using alcohol in any setting where students are present. Cornerstone will continue to ban alcohol on campus and at all university-sponsored events, Stowell said.

“There were no gasps from the room because I think this is something we were ready to hear,” said Michael VanDyke, an English professor. “It seems like a good move forward for Cornerstone that the administration trusts us to use our judgement.” VanDyke said lifting the ban “won’t change who anybody is.”

Cornerstone was founded as the Baptist Bible Institute of Grand Rapids in 1941. Its name was changed to Cornerstone College in 1994 and to Cornerstone University in 1999.

For more, read here.