New St. Thomas Univerity president promises to promote ‘inclusion’ for homosexuals

The newly-installed president of the Roman Catholic-affiliated University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a historical first in more than one way – not only is she the first woman to be selected as the university’s head, she is also the first layperson.

With the inauguration of Julie Sullivan, St. Thomas has broken a more than 100-year tradition of entrusting only priests to lead the school. Sullivan called her installation “a sign of the times,” and wasted no time in demonstrating her commitment to radical change for the 10,000-student institution.

Sullivan made headlines this week thanks to her opening speech, in which she promised to promote “inclusion” for open homosexuals and seemed to endorse same-sex “marriage,” which was recently made legal in Minnesota despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church.

“It pains me to think that a gay student, staff or faculty member would ever feel unwelcome or a need to ‘hide’ at St. Thomas,” said Sullivan. “As Pope Francis reminds us, we are not called to judge. We are called to love and support everyone in our community regardless of their sexual orientation. And, I might add, regardless of the gender of their spouse.”

Homosexual activists applauded Sullivan’s remarks. Danielle Tschida, a St. Thomas junior who heads campus gay advocacy group UST Allies, told the Pioneer Press that her first thought upon hearing about Sullivan’s speech was “Great, we have another ally.”

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