A Goshen (Ind.) College librarian resigned May 19 in part because the college’s hiring policy requires gay and lesbian employees to be celibate.

Tabi Berkey wrote an open letter to the college community expressing the worry she faced knowing her job was at risk if “the wrong person” found out she is a lesbian. The letter was posted to the Facebook group, GC Open Letter.

The group represents the website gcopenletter.org, where more than 1,600 signatures of students, staff and alumni have been collected asking for Goshen to become a “place that actively seeks the contributions of openly GLBTQ faculty.”

Goshen requires employees to sign a commitment to community standards that says employees are expected to follow the Mennonite Church USA Confession of Faith, which places sex inside a heterosexual marriage.

In her letter, Berkey wrote: “After eight years of living openly as a lesbian in Goshen, I returned to the closet as a GC staffer two years ago. I compromised my beliefs and my promise to always be true to myself because I believed in GC’s message of acceptance, and foolishly hoped I could look past the hiring policy and see only the goodness that penetrates the other areas of life at GC.”

Jodi Beyeler, Goshen’s public relations director, sent a statement through email that said the hiring policy has been under discussion for a long time.

“As a Mennonite liberal arts college, we hope and expect that our students, faculty and staff are thinking about and engaging in discussion, dialogue and debate around all issues that face the larger church and global community, including homosexuality,” Beyeler said in the statement. “We are grateful that Tabi was able to be a part of that discussion here before choosing to move on to her next stage of life.”

Goshen’s board of directors discussed the college’s hiring practices at a February meeting and a May 30-31 meeting but made no changes. They plan to revisit the topic in the future.

“The Goshen College Board of Directors stands in solidarity with deliberative processes underway in Mennonite Church USA related to this and will continue its own discernment process at future meetings in the context of these dialogues,” Beyeler’s statement said.

Other colleges

Hiring policies regarding gay and lesbian employees have been an issue at two other Mennonite colleges this year.

Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., began a listening process in November regarding a similar hiring practice — where employees commit to community standards that ask signers to “refrain from sexual relationships outside of marriage.”

The process is set to wrap up this summer. Findings will be considered by the board of trustees in June.

On April 5, the board of directors for Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., voted unanimously to approve language added to Bethel’s nondiscrimination policy, broadening it to include references to sexual orientation and gender identity.

In her letter, Berkey said that when she was honest about her sexuality to people on campus, she was warmly accepted.

She said the response to the letter was affirming.

“It’s been a whirlwind, and the outpouring of love has been amazing to see,” she said.