Coach Ron Brown, veteran assistant football coach at the University of Nebraska, is candid about his
Christian faith.

In early January, just after Nebraska lost to Miami in the Rose Bowl, Coach Brown traveled to a Los Angeles hotel
to interview for the head football job at Stanford.  An April 11 piece by Veronica Daehn in the University of
Nebraska "Daily Nebraskan" says Brown didn't get any farther than the initial interview and his faith was the likely
reason.

According to the story, it soon became apparent that Brown's "religious views, among other things, were
incompatible with Stanford's liberal student body and active gay community."

Stanford's assistant Athletic Director Alan Glenn is quoted as saying, "(His religion) was definitely something that
had to be considered.  We're a very diverse community with a diverse alumni.  Anything that would stand out that
much is something that has to be looked at. … It was one of many variables that was considered."

Stanford sophomore Courtney Wooten, a sociology major and social director of Stanford's Queer Straight Social
and Political Alliance was blunt.  "He would be poorly received by the student body in general."

In fact, Coach Brown is a graduate of Brown and Columbia Universities.  His wife is an alumna of Stanford.  They
are articulate, outspoken Christians.  Coach Brown, an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
(FCA), alluded to the January incident in a column he wrote in the March 2002 "Sharing the Victory," FCA's
official magazine.

"After the first interview, the athletic director vacillated whether to bring me on campus for a final interview.  After
deliberation he decided not to, with the explanation that he did not believe that my Christian convictions would mesh
well with that university. … I wasn't upset with his decision to choose another candidate over me.  But I was
shocked at the reason and that the university was that up front in telling me the reason!  They seemed to have no
problem with the notion of squelching or eliminating one because of his representation of Jesus Christ."

Brown told the "Daily Nebraskan", "If I'd been discriminated against for being black, they would've never told me
that.  They had no problem telling me it was because of my Christian beliefs.  That's amazing to me."

After the story broke, both the Stanford Athletic Director Ted Leland and assistant Athletic Director Alan Glenn
wrote letters to the editor of the "Daily Nebraskan" denying that Brown's Christian views were a factor in his not
getting past the first interview for the Stanford job.

Leland's letter says the article inaccurately portrayed the issue of religion in Stanford's decision to not hire Coach
Brown and that discrimination over one's religion is not tolerated.  "However, we simply decided to go another
way," Leland said.

Assistant Athletic Director Glenn said his comments to the reporter were of a general nature, taken out of context
and not specific to Ron Brown or his candidacy for the head football position at Stanford.  "I endorsed Ron's
candidacy for the position of head football coach … and in fact, recommended him to Stanford Athletic Director
Ted Leland," wrote Glenn.  Both men said they highly admire Coach Brown.

The article in the Nebraskan says, "To some, this also suggests a double standard at the university, which changed
its mascot from an Indian to the Cardinal in the early 1970s in response to claims of racial insensitivity."

In an April 18 piece, San Francisco Chronicle writer Mark Simon indicates that it's fine with him if Brown's religious
beliefs were a factor in not giving the coach a second look.

Coach Brown has said there is not a secular Ron Brown and a Christian Ron Brown.  Simon quotes a Nebraska
media outlet where Brown said, "I'm a Christian Ron Brown, period. … One thing I've tried not to do is separate
my coaching from who I am.  Some people have a problem with that.  They want to separate my coaching from my
faith in Christ.  I can't do that.  That would be a huge hypocrisy.  You have to be who you are."

That's fine, says Simon. But Stanford clearly is a secular institution, and thus perfectly justified for rejecting Brown
for who he is, since that's the criteria Coach Brown proposes.

There's little doubt that more universities devoted to inclusion and diversity will refuse to hire coaches who are
outspoken and up front about their Christianity.  What those coaches say during the interview will be telling.
 

Don Follis is an Urbana minister.  Reprinted with permission from the
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, copyright 2002.