Baylor University Voluntarily Rescinds Acceptance of LGBT Research Grant

President issued statement affirming biblical view of human sexuality.

Baylor University has reversed course and “voluntarily” agreed to rescind acceptance of a grant by the progressive Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation to fund research examining the “disenfranchisement and exclusion” of individuals from churches who identify as LGBT.

Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Photo courtesy of Baylor University/Matthew Minard via RNS

In a statement on July 9, Baylor President Linda Livingstone announced that faculty with the Baylor School of Social work “voluntarily offered to rescind their acceptance of this grant.”

The university’s primary concerns were not with the research itself, Livingstone said, but with the activities following the research —work that “extended into advocacy for perspectives on human sexuality that are inconsistent with Baylor’s institutional policies, including our Statement on Human Sexuality.”

The Statement on Human Sexuality, last updated in 2009, affirms the biblical understanding of human sexuality and recognizes that homosexuality is a deviation from the norm understood by Christian churches across the ages.

“We affirm the biblical understanding of human sexuality as a gift from God, expressed through purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman,” Livingstone’s statement said.

She added that the university is committed to “providing a loving and caring community for all — including our LGBTQIA+ students.”

The university came under fire for the grant and its planned use.

Matt Kennedy, an Anglican pastor and author, wrote on X, “It’s much better to send your child to a secular university, hostile to the faith, than to a ‘Christian’ university like Baylor. Better the wolf with bared fangs than the wolf disguised as a shepherd.”

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In an opinion piece for the Washington Times, Everett Piper, former president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, wrote, “Any church, organization or university that is more interested in being ‘inclusive’ of sin than in preaching and teaching that we need to confess it is not biblical and — yes, I’m going to say it — is not Christian.”

Livingstone affirmed Baylor’s commitment to its role as a Christian research university, but acknowledged that the grant acceptance was a “learning opportunity for many involved in this situation.”

“I hope this communication provides clarity into what has been a difficult week for many within the Baylor Family. Thank you for your prayers and continued support for Baylor University,” she wrote in closing.

Baylor University is the third largest Christian university in the country by total revenue. In the MinistryWatch 1000 database, it has a C transparency grade, only one out of five stars for financial efficiency, and donor confidence score of 36 out of 100, meaning donors should withhold giving.

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