School Committee Votes to Move Graduation from Gordon College

The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee voted Thursday night to move the high school’s graduation ceremony from Gordon College to the high school.

The committee voted 4-2 to move the ceremony, which has been held at Gordon College since 1994 according to Salem News, to the high school after students voiced concerns about Gordon College President D. Michael Lindsay’s recent signature on a letter requesting an exemption for Gordon College to continue seeking federal contracts while requiring faculty, staff and students to abstain from homosexual behavior as well as a circuit court decision about holding graduation in a church.

High school principal Eric Tracy said he spoke with each senior homeroom and invited students to further express their opinions. He told the committee Thursday night that several of the students took the time to meet with him and they “fell on both sides of the fence.”

To some students , Tracy said, the family tradition of graduating at Gordon College was important to them, while others had serious concerns about the stance of Gordon College.

“We are a public school and by being a public school we have to do what’s right for our kids,” School Committee Vice Chair Sheila MacDonald said. “I don’t see that Gordon is punished in any way by us deciding not to have graduation there. I think that our students would be punished by us continuing to have it there... that’s really what it came down to for me.”

The full video of the March 5 School Committee meeting is available online.