“Our theological view is that—for professing Christians who are in leadership—celibacy is the only option outside the bounds of marriage,” Ely and Richmond wrote. “We have applied and do apply this policy regardless of sexual orientation.” The woman, as well as four other members of HCFA, said they believe she was not asked to step down from her position because she is bisexual. Instead, HCFA leadership pressured her to resign because she chose to actively pursue a same-sex relationship, according to the woman and the four other individuals.

The Office of Student Life has placed religious group Harvard College Faith and Action on “administrative probation” for a year after the organization pressured a female member of its student leadership to resign in September following her decision to date a woman.

College spokesperson Aaron M. Goldman announced the move to put HCFA on probation in an emailed statement sent to The Crimson Wednesday afternoon.

“After a thorough review and finding that HCFA had conducted itself in a manner grossly inconsistent with the expectations clearly outlined in [the Office of Student Life’s] Student Organization Resource and Policy Guide, OSL has placed HCFA on a one year administrative probation,” Goldman wrote in the statement.

Goldman did not specify how HCFA, the largest Christian fellowship on campus, had violated Office of Student Life “expectations.” In an emailed statement Wednesday, HCFA co-presidents Scott Ely ’18 and Molly L. Richmond ’18 were slightly more specific.

“Earlier today, we met with an administrator who informed us that the College would place HCFA on probation, citing our relationship with Christian Union as well as our standards for leaders,” Richmond and Ely wrote Wednesday. Christian Union—a national umbrella group with outposts at all eight Ivy League schools and Stanford—helps fund and support HCFA.

The decision to suspend HCFA, though, is almost certainly tied to the Sept. 2017 resignation of a female bisexual former assistant Bible course leader. HCFA leadership asked the woman to step down from her position after they learned she was dating another female student—violating guidelines laid out in the Harvard College Student Handbook, which stipulates recognized campus student groups cannot discriminate on the basis of “sexual orientation.”

This account of events is based on interviews with 12 current and former members of HCFA as well as documents, emails, and text messages obtained and reviewed by The Crimson. The former assistant Bible course leader, as well as several other members of HCFA, spoke only on the condition of anonymity.

The meeting between College administrators, Richmond, and Ely Wednesday—and the Office of Student Life’s move to put HCFA on probation—came less than a day after The Crimson contacted the College and HCFA about the publication of this story.

Goldman wrote in his statement Wednesday that the Office of Student Life “was alerted to a situation in December” regarding HCFA and has been “reviewing” the organization ever since. As part of the newly announced year-long probation, administrators will place an “official letter” into the Office of Student Life’s “file” on HCFA, according to Goldman.

If HCFA decides to re-register as a recognized student organization next spring, the Office of Student Life “will require updated materials demonstrating that they are in compliance with the University’s nondiscrimination” policies, Goldman wrote.

Ely and Richmond, though, maintain HCFA never fell out of compliance with Harvard’s non-discrimination guidelines.

“We reject any notion that we discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in our fellowship,” the co-presidents wrote in an email Wednesday. “Broadly speaking, the student in this case was removed because of an irreconcilable theological disagreement pertaining to our character standards.”

Ely and Richmond wrote they believe HCFA’s standards on topics related to issues like extramarital “sexual activity” are applied equally to student “leaders of all sexual orientations.” The two added HCFA only addresses violations of its leadership standards that others bring to the group’s attention.

“We’re not the morality police,” Ely and Richmond wrote.

JUST ONE ‘CATCH’

Around the start of the fall semester, the former assistant Bible course leader was feeling “truly good.”

Sophomore year had been difficult; but the woman had begun a relationship in mid-August and was finally beginning to feel “inexplicable peace,” she wrote in a Sept. 18 email to her HCFA mentees. HCFA assistant Bible course leaders are each tasked with mentoring several other members of the organization.

“This person really makes me laugh, makes me feel safe, and can get me to breath[e] again during times of hyperventilating in a really bad panic attack, challenges me to be a better person for myself, others, and God,” she wrote of her romantic partner. “I know a person or relationship doesn’t ‘fix you,’ but I can honestly say that having this relationship has been an incredible support that has helped me get to the point that I am at now.”

There was just one “catch.”

“This person is a girl,” the woman wrote.

The woman wrote she and her girlfriend, also a member of HCFA, had prayed “a lot” about their relationship and that both felt “extremely at peace” with their love for one another as well as their faith.

HCFA leaders, however, did not feel the same. Weeks into the semester, at least one ministry fellow—a Christian Union-employed ministry faculty member who teaches HCFA Bible courses—discovered the woman had entered into a same-sex relationship.

Anne Kerhoulas, the ministry fellow, texted the woman on Sept. 11 asking to meet the next day, according to text messages reviewed by The Crimson. The woman knew Kerhoulas through her Bible study class, which the woman was helping lead.

Sometime in the next few days, the woman met with Kerhoulas and Christine Shin, another ministry fellow. During that meeting, the two ministry fellows sought to understand the current status of the woman’s same-sex relationship and how it had developed, the woman said.

After some discussion, the ministry fellows made up their minds: They requested the woman step down from her role as an assistant Bible course leader, according to the woman.

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