PROFESSOR DEDUCTED POINTS IN A STUDENT'S TEST PAPER FOR THE 'REPETIITIVE MENTION OF GOD IN MALE-GENDERED LANGUAGE'

Loyola Marymount University prof penalizes student for referring to God as 'male' entity

 

By Trisha  

 

meaww

January 7, 2022

 

 

Loyola Marymount University campus 

 

LMU’s Sacred Heart Chapel, referred to as the 'spiritual center' of its campus 

 

A student of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles got points deducted by her professor after she addressed God as a male entity. The student, who wished to keep her identity anonymous, is a member of the Loyola Marymount University College Republicans. The student's Theological Studies professor, Cecilia González-Andrieu, said that she did not appreciate the use of “male-gendered language for God repeatedly,” according to a screenshot of the grading rubric obtained by The College Fix that first reported on the incident in the LA-based university.

After the decision by Prof Andrieu, the student decided to defend her use of male pronouns for God in order to get back the docked points.  "Your comment that I referred to God as a male, I should not have gotten any points off for that. MULTIPLE times throughout the Bible God is referred to as a ‘he.’ I feel targeted by your comment, as I was raised in the church with the belief that God is a male,” read the student's message to the professor. However, the student was not awarded points back on the test immediately after the message. 

Gonzalez responded saying, “As I indicated to the class community several times, in the footnotes you can have a conversation with other scholars. This gives you a way to highlight and support the reasons for your choices regarding multiple questions. Please resubmit your paper and add a footnote stating your reasons as a scholar to opt to preserve male language for God. I am sure you can do this well. That’s all you need to do and I will then review your paper once more.”

The Loyola Marymount University authorities have not otherwise commented on the issue, according to an article in The College Fix. The student however, followed the instructions advised by Gonzalez and rewrote the paper according to the instructions. Sources later confirmed that points had been awarded back to the student after the student resubmitted the paper with proper footnotes defending why she made the choice to refer to God as a male entity.

According to Will Donahue, chairman of the California College Republicans and Loyola Marymount University College Republicans president, the student "should have never been put in that situation". Donahue added, “I am appalled by this blatant heresy coming out of the theology department. This was a personal attack on one of my member’s freedom of religion, at a ‘Catholic’ school no less. This type of compelled speech cannot be tolerated by LMU.”