Federal Government (EEOC) goes after Belmont Abbey College for Being Catholic

By Deacon Keith Fournier
8/12/2009
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Pray for Belmont Abbey College and stand with them for Life. They are showing the courage all Catholics must demonstrate.

'By denying prescription contraception drugs, Respondent (the college) is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral prescription contraceptives� By denying coverage, men are not affected, only women.', Reuben Daniels Jr., of the EEOC Charlotte District Office Director.

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BELMONT, NC (Catholic Online) � The Congress of the United States is in recess. This is the time when elected officials normally meet in Town Hall sessions with their constituents and take a vacation. However, it has become a long, hot summer as record numbers turn out in Town Hall meetings across the country expressing serious reservations over the proposed Health care Reform legislation being advanced by the Obama administration.

The most serious concern raised is how this reform would affect our first neighbors, children in the womb. Catholics, other Christians, other people of faith and all people of good will who insist that Abortion is not Health Care are sending a loud message. We are insisting upon explicit Pro-Life protections in any Health Care Legislation. The proponents of the legislation have been dismissive of our concerns and accuse us of scare tactics. The danger of the current plan, without explicit statutory protection of unborn human persons, becomes even more obvious in the wake of what just happened in Belmont, North Carolina. Let me explain.

Belmont Abbey College is nestled in the plush green rolling hills of Belmont, North Carolina. The campus could provide the backdrop for a film depicting the idyllic Catholic College. Founded by and still served by Benedictine Monks, it provides a visual witness to the beauty of the Benedictine mission of �work and prayer� and the Order�s significant role in helping to birth the great European Universities out of the Monasteries of the Middle Ages. The Monastery on campus is a symbol of the dynamic Catholic faith, life and culture which characterizes this Catholic College.

What is more appealing than even its beauty is Belmont Abbey�s dedication to handing on the fullness of Catholic faith, thought and culture to their student body. It has an overt commitment to teaching the fullness of the Catholic Christian faith and infusing in its graduates a Catholic worldview. The President of the College, Dr. Bill Thierfelder, is right out of Central casting. With a background in athletics and Sports medicine, he has dedicated his academic leadership to promoting a truly Catholic, fully human, virtue centered lifestyle on campus.

When I first met him I was struck by his height and his gregarious manner. He could have just stepped off the basketball court. As I listened to him speak, it became clear that this was a man who understands the fullness of the Catholic vision for the human person, the family and the social order. He also takes seriously the essential role of the Catholic academy in training the new missionaries for the New Evangelization of every segment of the contemporary culture. Finally, he has the courage required of a Catholic leader.

In 2007, a faculty member discovered that under the College�s existing Health Insurance Plan, anti-life and anti-family products and procedures were potentially covered, including abortion, contraception and sterilization. The College, a Catholic institution committed to the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church concerning the sanctity of life, removed the provisions. President Thierfelder explained this action in a letter he sent to students, faculty and friends of the College with this refreshingly clear statement:

�The teaching of the Catholic Church on this moral issue is clear. The responsibility of the College as a Catholic College sponsored by the monks of Belmont Abbey to follow Church teaching is equally clear. There was no other course of action possible if we were to operate in fidelity to our mission and to our identity as a Catholic College.� He was absolutely correct. Belmont Abbey College was just being Catholic!

Properly, the College then amended the health insurance plan to ensure that such anti-life and anti-family procedures and products were not available. Because this is a Catholic institution, the exemptions under both State and Federal law were clear, or so most would have thought, including this constitutional lawyer. However, a complaint was filed by eight faculty members with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) alleging that the exclusion of these �services� constituted discrimination against women in violation of both North Carolina and Federal law. An investigation ensued.

In March of 2009 the College Administration received a �Dismissal and Notice of Rights� determination letter from the EEOC indicating that they were closing the file. As a constitutional lawyer of almost thirty years, I know that such letters usually indicate the Commission�s intention to dismiss the claim. The College understandably interpreted it as an indication that the Commission found that the College�s decision to amend the plan did not violate the law.

So, imagine the shock as summer was winding to an end and the Administration received a �determination letter� from the U.S. Equal ...

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1 - 10 of 41 Comments

John
3 years ago
There is a Catholic student group promoting a e-card campaign of moral support to Belmont Abbey College.

Some 5000 people have sent cards of encouragement so far and anyone is invited to join this effort to support this Catholic college.

For more information visit

http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/get-involved/online-petitions/belmont-abbey-college-resisting-culture-death.html

God bless.
Arlene Stout
3 years ago
I don't know where this matter stands at the moment, but shouldn't the College fire the faculty members who brought these charges?? With their anti-Catholic views, they shouldn't even be teaching there!
Dave
3 years ago
Could the college just opt out of providing health insurance for its employees instead of closing? The cost of health insurance could be transferred from the college to the employee (through higher salary), then the employees would have to find their own health insurance. Would this be an acceptable compromise?
Cate
3 years ago
I'm actually a Junior at Belmont Abbey College. Let me say, the student body overwhelmingly supports Dr. Thierfelder and the Abbot in this decision. Also, I would like to point out that although the college did mention the names of the faculty who filed the claim, they did so after those faculty members publicly tried to get other faculty to join them in protesting; they revealed themselves first. The college fell into some rough times (mostly around the 60s and 70s) and in more recent years has been going back to its roots and reawakening its Catholic heritage and identity. (Incidentally and rather ironically, most of these faculty members are male, as well as getting up there in years; basically they're remnants of the 60s ultra-feminism). These faculty members were unfortunately tenured during the rough times, so they cannot legally be "gotten rid of". The faculty, however, is ever increasing with wonderful, faithful Catholic professors who truly love the Faith, the college, and teaching us students. I stand behind this college and its mission, and pray that justice and truth may prevail in this matter. Both Dr. Thierfelder and the Abbot have stated that if they are forced to provide these services then the college will close. I pray that will not happen. O Holy Virgin Mother of God, pray for us.
Sharon Anne Hudon
3 years ago
The United States of America is no longer operating under our forefathers \'one nation under God\' even though this phrase was put in during the Eisenhower Administration.
Denise
3 years ago
I say they don't have a discrimination case, as sterilization isn't covered, that can be done to men also. No intent to discriminate. Kudos to Belmont for keeping the faith, which is sadly rare these days.
Wes Lisitza
3 years ago
Hmmm...faculty members who file EEOC complaint against a Catholic college because the college rids itself of contraceptive services and products based on the grounds of discriminaton. Did I get this right? I mean, if this really is the case, I have to ask, just what exactly are these faculty members doing on this campus? I see there's an issue of investigating ethics on this campus as well.
Ann Perpetua
3 years ago
The Church has the right to teach and correct society. So, whatever affects the morality of human beings in the Society is major concern to the Catholic Church. The state has no right to change Catholic tradition that existed thousands of years ago in the Catholic Institution if it is not danger to life . IF any person or persons wishes to have contraception, the person should go to where it can be obtained and leave Catholic Institutions and tradition alone as we chose to promote/preserve life at all stages of development not premeditatively using Contraceptives which excludes obstetric emergencies. No one os forced to be a Catholic and if we chose to to be Catholics, let us be free to obey her traditions without interference from the State. Lord Jesus, we trust in You !
Michael
3 years ago
Schuyler, Your concern is good, but in an emergency something like an eptopic pregnacy is not considered a "therapeutic abortion" , nor is a placental tear or where the child is already dead in the womb...
Schuyler
3 years ago
My problem is while being pro life, What about emergency abortion in the case that a mothers life is in danger. Does the insurance still cover that if not I could see how this could be discriminatory towards women. While I believe in the fight we cant use the same one side propaganda we are catholic we should always remeber the whole truth for it is the high fight we are called too. too many of our victories are tainted by deception. And we wonder why so many do not trust us.

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