Since Belmont University fired soccer coach Lisa Howe for being lesbian there has been an outpouring of support for the fired coach from students, faculty and the media. SI’s Jeff Pearlman wrote a scathing column lambasting the college and its decision.
Here's the good news: In the traditionally conservative, Bible Belt city of Nashville, people are livid. As men like Bob Fisher, the university president, and Mike Strickland, the athletic director, speak only in limp press releases (neither Fisher not Strickland returned calls from SI.com), Belmont's students are demanding accountability. Led by the gritty reporting of sports editor Pierce Greenberg, the Belmont Vision, the school's student newspaper, has been hammering the story with unrelenting vigor. On Sunday, meanwhile, some 40 students braved snow and fierce cold to hold a protest outside the campus. "For us," Becca Stone, a Belmont senior, told the Vision, "firing Coach Howe because of her sexuality was not the Christian thing to do."
Since Belmont University fired soccer coach Lisa Howe for being lesbian there has been an outpouring of support for the fired coach from students, faculty and the media. SI’s Jeff Pearlman wrote a scathing column lambasting the college and its decision.
Here's the good news: In the traditionally conservative, Bible Belt city of Nashville, people are livid. As men like Bob Fisher, the university president, and Mike Strickland, the athletic director, speak only in limp press releases (neither Fisher not Strickland returned calls from SI.com), Belmont's students are demanding accountability. Led by the gritty reporting of sports editor Pierce Greenberg, the Belmont Vision, the school's student newspaper, has been hammering the story with unrelenting vigor. On Sunday, meanwhile, some 40 students braved snow and fierce cold to hold a protest outside the campus. "For us," Becca Stone, a Belmont senior, told the Vision, "firing Coach Howe because of her sexuality was not the Christian thing to do."
School Trustee Emeritus Mike Curb sent a letter to Belmont demanding action and promising to work with the Board to get them to reverse their decision.
The student organization Bridge Builders held a sit-in earlier this week in protest. Derek Moore of Total Sports Mag was there and filed this video report:
Meanwhile, Howe has said she would consider returning to the school.
Hat tip to Derek Moore.
