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University of Mississippi’s Chancellor Vitter Responds to ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill
This morning, Mississippi governor Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523 into law that is slated to go into effect July 1, 2016.
The bill, titled as “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” is intended to protect individuals with certain religious beliefs or moral convictions and allows them to provide or deny goods and services based on three specifically stated views: marriage is recognized as an union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are reserved to marriage and that gender is decided by anatomy at birth.
This legislative action elicited a statewide and national response, and the University of Mississippi’s Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter is among the many taking a stance on the bill. Today, he sent out a letter:
Dear members of the UM community,
Some of you have inquired about how recent legislation will affect our campus operations and ethos. I am writing to reaffirm that the mission and values of the University of Mississippi have not changed. Our primary purpose is to be an academic institution that creates, evaluates, shares, and applies knowledge in a free, open, and inclusive environment of intellectual inquiry.
Our main campus in Oxford, our four regional campuses, and our academic health center provide academic, research, and professional programs and health care to tens of thousands of people. The members of the university and those we serve are part of a diverse community of different religions, ages, political perspectives, physical abilities, races, sexual orientations, gender expressions, nationalities, cultures, fields of study, and other characteristics.
Diversity is a hallmark of education and enriches the environment and experiences of all our campus constituents. We will always support all members of our community and uphold the UM Creed, which calls on us to respect the dignity of each person.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey S. Vitter
The House Bill in its entirety may be read at this link: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2016/pdf/history/HB/HB1523.xml
Callie Daniels Bryant is the senior managing editor at HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.
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Bill
April 5, 2016 at 7:08 pm
Well, that was a statement that checked all the P C boxes.
This guy is an embarrassment.
Luke
April 5, 2016 at 7:45 pm
Great job, Chancellor Vitter! I’m proud to be part of the UM community!
Bill
April 5, 2016 at 8:04 pm
The embarrassment is the State of Mississippi (and its “leaders”). Excellent statement on behalf of a great UM academic community.
Steve
April 5, 2016 at 8:32 pm
The great thing about our country is that we all get to vote twice. We can vote for or against the states leaders to bring about change. And we can vote with our feet and go somewhere where policies are consistent with our feelings.
And Bill if you are embarrassed by our state perhaps you should leave. I am proud of our state and am planning on staying and working for change.
See ya later Willie.
Joseph Moffa
April 5, 2016 at 9:25 pm
Liberals generally wish to preserve the concept of “rights” for such “human” rights as freedom of speech, while denying the concept to private property. And yet, on the contrary the concept of “rights” only makes sense as property rights. For not only are there no human rights which are not also property rights, but the former rights lose their absoluteness and clarity and become fuzzy and vulnerable when property rights are not used as the standard. A quote from Murray Rothbard
When you continue to degrade property rights you will continue to have more problems.
Take the owner of a tavern where the owner allows smoking. Well we now know that most states ban smoking in bars because a large portion of the population does not condone smoking. So the owner must conform to the non-smokers which has taken away his right to run his business. The liberals don’t want the property owner to actually own his property but conform to their world view. They use words of diversity which is BS. What can be more diverse than supplying individuals with more options than less. You have smoking bars and non-smoking bars. You start getting the picture that it really isn’t about smoking but about property rights.
Treadway Strickland
April 6, 2016 at 8:39 am
Chancellor Vitter has made Ole Miss and Oxford proud by standing up for all of its students and citizens. Everyone deserves respect and one religion can not determine how everyone else lives their lives.
C Green
April 6, 2016 at 10:25 am
Vitter’s statement was weak and vague at best. And he never spoke out against the horrible bill while it was being debated. He’s just Philbilly’s lap dog.
morgan
April 6, 2016 at 10:59 am
it should be entertaining to watch the libs squirm when a muslim…who the libs think are the greatest thing to ever ride a camel….denies service to a homosexual
Holice
April 6, 2016 at 12:21 pm
People also have religious rights, and if a same sex wedding offends their morals, they should have the right to refuse to participate! You should not have the right to force people to participate in an event that you feel is morally wrong!
Mark Scott
April 6, 2016 at 12:24 pm
What a hollow, shamefully PC comment. Surprised the stars and bars aren’t next to his signature. And Mississippi wants to boost its image…?
Arthur Frayne
April 6, 2016 at 4:28 pm
“it should be entertaining to watch the libs squirm when a muslim…who the libs think are the greatest thing to ever ride a camel….denies service to a homosexual” What about when a Muslim denies service to a Christian???? Are you going to stand with the Muslim for exercising THEIR religious beliefs??? Religious beliefs encompasses ALL religions, not just YOURS. For those of you bagging on “PC”, PC is nothing more than treating others with respect and courtesy – People who complain about “PC” culture hate it because it means they are being called out for being a-holes who can’t show common courtesy to those different from them.
Ryan
April 6, 2016 at 8:14 pm
No. Common courtesy is just that. The latest in p c silliness is that if you ask someone where they are from, it is a “micro aggression”. Because it implies that person is an “outsider”
So we have commom courtesy, and P c which is a lack of common sense.
And personally I don’t mind if a Muslim denies service to a Christian. Just as long as they don’t blow the Christian up
JCWard
April 6, 2016 at 10:03 pm
Very few Muslims have ever seen a camel, camels are native to North Africa and Central Asia
Morgan
April 6, 2016 at 10:21 pm
What do Muslims ride? I know it’s not pigs
Bob
March 6, 2018 at 4:52 pm
His reason and response to about everything – from Hotty Toddy Holidays to the allegations about Freeze et al. – are always super PC and cheesy. PC-ism is making UM look like they hired Jimmy Carter. Too many good professors and programs to have this kind of front man for the university.