A Georgia university is gaining attention for a new document that will rule out homosexuals as possible employees. The school’s board of trustees recently adopted a “Personal Lifestyle Statement” document that all faculty and staff must sign. If they don’t, their employment with the school will be terminated.

Shorter University, which is based in Rome, Ga., is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention, and expects its staff to help it further its Christ-centered goals. The school’s new motto, “Transforming Lives through Christ,” was also approved during the board of trustees meeting in addition to the lifestyle statement and a number of other related documents.

The lifestyle statement document says that the school will only hire “committed Bible believing Christians,” who, as employees of the school, are also expected to be active church members.

As far as personal conduct is concerned, the document also lays out rules forbidding employees from producing, using or selling illegal drugs, and they are not allowed to drink alcohol in public or endorse its use.

But the one item that really caught the eye of critics is the statement that all employees must “reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality.”

In a news release, Trustee Chair-Elect Joe Frank Harris, Jr. shared why the school created the document.

The ‘why’ is really simple: What you stand for matters,” said Harris. “Proverbs 3:5-6 tell us to ‘Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.’ If we acknowledge Him, He will make this university’s path straight.”

One Shorter University student, a sophomore who asked not to be named, told WSB-TV in Atlanta that the school shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate against employees by forcing them to sign such a statement.

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