Critics are accusing Waco’s Baylor University of caving to the demands of Christian extremists after the private Baptist campus this month returned a $643,000 grant it received to study the inclusion of women and LGBTQ+ people in the church. The nonprofit Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, created to support “progressive, inclusive, nonprofit organizations that reflect the love of Christ,” awarded the grant to Baylor’s Center for Church and Community Impact in June. The center initially accepted the sizable grant, which aimed to “help inclusion and belonging in the church.” “Through academic research, this grant will help us better understand the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations to nurture institutional courage and foster change,” Baylor officials said in a June 30 statement, which the school has since removed from its website, according to CNBC.
