2013-2018
2013-2018: An Interim Period
For a few years, Haven flew under the radar as a discussion group. They met weekly, observed national occurrences like Trans Day of Remembrance and National Day of Silence, and connected students with resources in the area. Haven also hosted open mic and karaoke nights, and spread awareness about critical queer issues through open discussion nights and social media posts. In March of 2014, Adam Hutchinson shared in The Falcon regarding a pastor panel held in Otto Miller Hall regarding the queer community and the church. At this point, Letters to the Editor were no longer featured in The Falcon, so there is less to reveal how the student body responded to this panel, but in the same issue there was an article published sharing statistics on the shifting views of the country towards LGBT rights.
...the first campus-wide event she has seen on SPU campus that had not ended in “a heated debate.”
One month later in April 2014, another report was featured on a ten day lecture series about sex, sexuality, and relationships. This particular session focused on homosexuality and “bridging the gap” between the LGBT community and the church. The article quotes senior Claire Nieman, who remarks that it is the first campus-wide event she has seen on SPU campus that had not ended in “a heated debate.”
Intermittently over the next few years, conversations began about the gendered, transphobic language in the Student Handbook and other group constitutions on campus. In 2016, articles were published in The Falcon discussing the conversation that was happening regarding the gendered language in ASSP constitution and the statement of human sexuality.
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