“I think that switching to single-sex dorms will not necessarily remove or lessen the opportunity for binge drinking and premarital sex (most students party off-campus), but I think it will have a large impact in working to subtly reinforce the idea that students at Catholic University are expected to uphold a higher standard and that not everything is ‘O.K.’ just because we are in a college setting.”

Jason P. Reagan, The Layman

The BOP made no comment when asked how the committee planned to hear from other Presbyterians — many of whom are not on presbytery staffs or members of presbytery committees and who were not able to attend the two events.

Although they’ve listened, members of a Presbyterian Church (USA) special committee of the Board of Pensions are not yet ready to talk in the wake of recent listening sessions concerning the extension of plan health benefits to same-sex couples.

In 2010, the 219th General Assembly of the PCUSA approved an increase in mandatory dues paid to the BOP to fund spousal and dependent benefits for same-gender domestic partners and their children.

The unprecedented increase calls for all congregations to pay up to a one-percent increase of total effective salary to fund the measure, which would provide benefits to same-sex partners equivalent to those made available to spouses and dependents of current plan members. The BOP administers a $6-billion benefits and assistance program which serves 50,000 PCUSA ministers, church workers and dependents.

In response, the BOP board formed the Special Committee on Domestic Partner Benefits to study the effects of the increase and expansion of benefits. The committee will report back to the 220th General Assembly in 2012.

The study committee, in turn, held two listening sessions in May in Philadelphia and Los Angeles in conjunction with the BOP’s regional benefit consultation.

“Each session was open to anyone who was registered for a consultation, signed up in advance or asked to be registered at the door,” statement released June 13 by BOP president Robert W. Maggs Jr. read.

“In each session people who were not otherwise registered for the consultations were welcomed and given an opportunity to speak,” the statement added.

According to the event rosters, the Philadelphia session drew 308 registered attendees, including BOP members and staff, while the Los Angeles session drew 210.

During the sessions, attendees expressed sentiments both in favor and against the proposal. Proponents claimed the move would bolster the PCUSA’s “commitment to justice,” while opponents see the plan as unbiblical and in violation of traditional church beliefs concerning sexual relationships among ordained ministers.

The controversial plan comes on the heels of a sweeping change in ordination standards with the recent passage of Amendment 10A. The change to the Book of Order will allow for the ordination of non-celibate single heterosexuals, those who commit adultery, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals to positions as deacons, elders and ministers in PCUSA churches.

Others voiced that opinion that such an increase and expansion represented a form of taxation without representation.

“It was made clear to the audiences that, as explained at the General Assembly, if the proposal is adopted by the Board of Pensions, the board expects that such adoption would not affect dues for the medical plan but could, over time, have an effect on the cost of the pension plan because of the extension of survivor benefits to domestic partners,” the BOP statement made clear.

“Because increases in pension plan dues (as opposed to medical dues) require approval of the General Assembly, the commissioners granted contingent approval of an increase in pension plan dues in the event the board were to determine that the extension of survivor benefits to same gender domestic partners, if adopted, would require such action,” Maggs said via the statement.

‘Present not to talk’
Some attendees felt that the committee should have spoken out about its progress despite the listening nature of the sessions.

“There was no presentation about where the committee was in their process,” said the Rev. David Lambertson, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Central Washington, who attended the West Coast session.

Lambertson said that, although the BOP offered a chance for all sides to speak out, he felt as if their words may not reach the ears of those making the final recommendation.

“They are clear that they are present not to talk, but are present to give you the opportunity to talk and if you have something to take back to the committee, you need to write it down and send it to them,” he said.

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When it comes to gender and residence life, the hot topic in recent years has been gender-neutral housing, in which students share not only buildings or floors, but also sleeping quarters and bathrooms. But the president of the Catholic University of America went in the opposite direction when he announced Monday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that next year, the institution will begin phasing out its coeducational dormitories.

In making his case, President John Garvey notes the university’s moral obligations and, to a lengthier extent, also cites research showing that students who live in single-sex housing arrangements are less likely to engage in risky behavior like binge drinking and casual sex. He also writes that these behaviors have negative impacts on mental health and academic performance. The transition will only affect incoming classes, so current Catholic students won’t have to move into single-sex housing.

Quoting Aristotle, Garvey says that virtue “makes us aim at the right mark, and practical wisdom makes us take the right means.”

“If he is right, then colleges and universities should concern themselves with virtue as well as intellect,” Garvey said. Hence, he reasons, single-sex housing.

Even though officials from the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International could not recall another institution that has returned from coed housing to single-sex dorms, and 90 percent of colleges have coed dorms, they said it makes sense that a Roman Catholic University would revert to single-sex housing because such decisions typically reflect an institution’s philosophy.

“Introducing a coed facility was pretty darn dramatic for that particular campus,” said Jill Eckardt, director of housing at Florida Atlantic University and president of ACUHO-I. “When you think about the Roman Catholic church, you know, they’re not for premarital sex and hooking up. That’s not part of their doctrine. Not everybody who goes to Catholic is Catholic, but that is part of their mission and vision.”

In an interview Tuesday, Garvey said the real reason for the change was moral, not statistical; the research was simply another reason to do it. The announcement also wound up being the culmination of a year of meetings, events and performances exploring intellect, virtue and Catholic identity.

“This conversation about life in residence halls and about drinking and sex and so on was all part of that,” he said. “In my thinking about it, it’s got a lot more to do with my wife’s and my being the parents of five children whom we’ve sent to college … and seeing the kind of life” that students lead.

But Garvey did devote a considerable amount of his op-ed to research, including surveys compiled by Loyola Marymount University philosophy professor Christopher Kaczor in a pro-single-sex housing column, which cites a handful of studies linking coed housing to risky behavior.

One 2009 study found that students in coed housing were more likely to have multiple sexual partners, even when controlling for factors like gender and religiosity. Kaczor also quoted a 2002 study noting that students in coed dorms “incurred more problem consequences related to drinking,” and were more likely to report “heavy episodic drinking.” (Fraternities and sororities – known for heavy drinking and hook-up environments – were not counted as single-sex housing in these studies.)