Gordon College (Massachusetts)

Gordon College is one of two CCCU members listed in the 2021 Edition of The Best 386 Colleges published by The Princeton Review; Wheaton College (Illinois) is the other.[6] For reference, U.S. News ranks 1,400 out of a total of 3,313 public and private non-profit institutions (Feb. 2019).[7]

In the October 2020, Gordon College announced a 33% reduction in tuition from $56.7k sticker price to $37.9k, joining two other CCCU schools in bringing tuition costs more in line with what a typical family would consider 'affordable.' The College notes that this reduction is made possible due to its Faith Rising capital campaign, which has expanded its base endowment by $125 million in the past year (250%), coupled with 24% debt reduction. Scholarships will be adjusted accordingly, with current students allowed to choose which arrangement they prefer. The reduction takes effect in the fall semester of 2021.[8]

Previously, in the fall of 2019, Gordon received the largest donation in its history, an anonymous gift of $75.5 million, with additional commitments of an additional $50 million, substantially increasing an endowment of $50 million[9] and resulting in a 15% increase in college-funded student financial aid.[10]

On July 1, 2014, Gordon College President D. Michael Lindsay was one of fourteen leaders of religious and civic organizations who signed a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama about an executive order he was contemplating that would prohibit federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.[11] The letter asked the president to include language that would exempt religious organizations from the executive order's requirements, suggesting he "find a way to respect diversity of opinion . . . in a way that respects the dignity of all parties". They suggested the exemption be based on language the U.S. Senate had recently added as an amendment to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).[12][13] Obama did not use the ENDA amendment's language when he issued his order on July 21 but left in place a narrower exemption established with respect to federal contractors in 2002 by President George W. Bush's Executive Order 13279.[14]

In response, on July 9, Salem, Massachusetts, Mayor Kimberley Driscoll ended Gordon College's contract to manage and maintain the city's Old Town Hall, citing a city ordinance that prohibits Salem from contracting with entities that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.[15] Gordon's contract with the city would otherwise have expired on September 1.[16] For similar reasons, in August, the Lynn Public Schools ended its relationship with the College, which had provided students to work without pay in the schools as part their training toward degrees in education and social work.[17]

In late July, the Peabody Essex Museum ended its academic relationship with the Gordon museum studies program, later withdrawing its support for Gordon's grant application to the National Endowment for the Humanities that aimed at funding an expansion of its museum studies program.[18] In mid-September the New England Association of Schools and Colleges gave the college a year to report on how its non-discrimination policies met the organization's standards for accreditation.[19] At its April 2015 meeting, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges affirmed that Gordon's accreditation remained in good standing, with no further action required by the Commission at that time.[20][21][22][23]

Conservative legal organizations have offered to represent the college in lawsuits that would argue that severing ties to the school constituted retaliation for the exercise of free speech and the practice of religion. Lindsay declined those offers and later said he would not have signed the letter had he anticipated the reaction and the impact on Gordon. The school subsequently reviewed its code of conduct, which, in addition to banning sex outside of marriage, bans homosexual practice.[24] Based on that review, Lindsay announced that "its policy barring student or faculty sex out of heterosexual marriage will remain as is."[25] In addition, Gordon College rolled out several initiatives aimed at preventing bullying of gay, lesbian, transsexual, and bisexual students.[25]

In 2015, Lauren Barthold, associate professor in the department of philosophy, filed a lawsuit against the college for retaliating against her because she publicly disagreed with the college's President D. Michael Lindsay who sought to allow federal contractors, on the basis of religion, to discriminate against LBGTQ individuals in hiring.[26] The lawsuit contends that the college violated state laws protecting against retaliation.[27] As part of a joint resolution, Prof. Barthold resigned in 2016.[28]

In 2017, the college was sued by Margaret DeWeese-Boyd, associate professor in the department of sociology and social work. DeWeese-Boyd filed a complaint in Essex Superior Court claiming that the college's President Lindsay and Provost Janel Curry discriminated against her because of her gender and denied her promotion to full professorship for advocating against the school's LGBTQ policies. The college filed a motion seeking a summary judgment to determine whether the ministerial exception clause barred DeWeese-Boyd from suing. In November 2019, both parties appeared before the court for a hearing and DeWeese-Boyd argued that she never worked as a minister with the college. On April 2, 2020, Judge Jeffrey T. Karp of the Massachusetts Superior Court ruled against the ministerial exception defense. This decision has been appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court based on the July 2020 Supreme Court decision handed down in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru.[29]

Frost Hall

In the fall of 2013 the College drew its undergraduate enrollment of 1,707 from 43 states and 41 foreign countries. Approximately 22 percent of enrollment—including international students—were of Asian, African American, mestizo, Native American, or other non-Caucasian descent.

Gordon College has a student association, student ministries, intramural sports, and a Campus Events Council. There are student-led community-service and outreach organizations ranging from drama troupes to Big Brothers Big Sisters and Habitat for Humanity.

Many other Gordon College outreach programs are based at other sites, such as Lynn, Massachusetts, where the school has partners for community development. Several student-led groups organize spring-break, winter-break and summer-break community-service trips and mission trips to different sites around the country and the globe.

Gordon College's varsity sports compete in the NCAA Division III and ACHA, primarily in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). Gordon College's 30 teams compete in baseball, basketball, cross-country, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Athletes are called "The Fighting Scots."[39]

Head coach Tod Murphy, who became head coach in 2009, had led the Fighting Scots to five Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament appearances as of 2015.[40] One of these five years he led the team to an NCAA tournament appearance.

Eric Demers, a ’20 graduate, led the nation in points per game averaging 33.3 points, including a 42-point performance against University of Hartford (Division 1).[41] [42] [43]

Gordon's Global Education Office has programs in Orvieto, Italy, Hong Kong, Oxford, Belize, Croatia, the Balkans, New Zealand, Latin America, and Uganda. Students enrolled in Gordon's Global program may use financial aid towards a study abroad semester.