Biola University Response to Recent YouTube Video of Student Demonstration

(Updated: August 20, 2013)

An Open Letter on Biola's Commitment to the Pro-Life Cause

June 19, 2013

Dear Biola Community — our students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends:

Thank you for your ongoing prayer and support for Biola University and its students in the midst of recent circumstances. In times such as these, in order to protect the confidentiality of students and to uphold the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, we are not able to comment or provide clarification on certain aspects of situations that may unfold in a public arena.

Please be assured that in each instance in which Biola University’s mission, integrity and biblical fidelity is called into question, it is our strong desire to be as responsive as possible to comments, calls and emails. Though we may be limited in what we are able to share publicly, be assured that we want to enter into discussions and conversations that are God-honoring and respectful to all involved and that protect confidentiality. We are a learning community, and whenever possible, we extend opportunities for mentoring and counsel, as this is one of Biola’s highest commitments to our community, especially our students.

Our deepest concern is the well-being and care of our students as whole persons. We believe God has called Biola University to serve with biblical conviction and courage and to equip our students to live faithfully for Him. We also appreciate the passions our students demonstrate as they discover God’s calling upon their lives. Our prayer is that they learn to go from this place to model integrity and serve as redemptive voices to a hurting world.

We seek to come alongside our students and graduates to support them in all professional pursuits, including by giving individual faculty members the freedom to provide reference letters for students upon request. This commitment has not changed.

As a community of grace, we continue to learn from each circumstance where we are called to reflect and seek God’s wisdom and discernment. These are great teaching moments for our community and we take each situation very seriously with our students’ best interests in mind.

May Jesus be glorified in our words and actions, and may all things be used to God’s glory.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Biola University.

News and Resources:

• Read about Biola University’s commitment to the pro-life cause in our “In Word and Deed” document.
• Watch La Verne Tolbert (Ph.D. ’96) speak on “Living Out the Good News for a Pro-Life America” in Biola’s chapel from Feb. 6, 2013.
• Alumna La Verne Tolbert (Ph.D. '96), president of Teaching Like Jesus Ministries, offers her perspective on Biola's firm pro-life commitment: http://drtolbert.wordpress.com/2013/06/14/the-truth-biola-university-is-pro-life/
• Read The Christian Post's article, "Christian University Under Fire for Banning Pro-Life Student's Anti-Abortion Signs."
• Watch the “Ethics at the Edge of Life” seminar from Scott Klusendorf and Dr. Scott Rae, featuring more than 11 hours of lectures on abortion, bioethics and the sanctity of life.
• Watch Dr. Scott Rae’s “Church and Society” course, featuring lectures on abortion, unwanted pregnancy, reproductive ethics and biotechnology.
• Read Biola Magazine’s interview, “Forty Years After Roe, How Should We Think About Abortion?”