For a historical account of the connection between the Employee Lifestyle Expectations and the Statement on Human Sexuality, see SPU Statement on Human Sexuality. A review of the ELEs over time demonstrates that the prohibition against same-sex sexual activity remained rather oblique until 2021, when it was finally made unambiguously explicit. The obscurity of the policy can be indexed by the Voices of Campus survey of 2022, which found that 48% of surveyed faculty and staff were unaware of the employee conduct policy prior to being employed by SPU. Preliminary data from an ongoing 2022 campus survey, the Psychology of Protest, suggests that on average, it took 4.32 years for surveyed faculty members, post-hiring, to become aware of the policy.
Employee Lifestyle Expectations 2021
In 2021, the online Employee Handbook finally specified same-sex sexual activity as prohibitive for employment.
Employee Lifestyle Expectations 2017
Sometime between 2004 and 2017, the sexual conduct policy for employees in the Employee Handbook was revised to specify “cohabitation and extramarital sexual activity” but still refrained from specifying same-sex sexual activity, instead directing readers to the Statement on Human Sexuality, now accessible through a web link.
Employee Lifestyle Expectations 2000-2004
This document from an administrator is a copy of employee conduct policies published in the Employee Handbook from 2000 to 2004. The sexual conduct policy (highlighted) is identical to the policy from circa 1993. In neither case does the policy define “sexually immoral behavior,” instead directing the reader to “the University’s official statement on human sexuality (copies available in the Office of Human Resources).”
Standards of Employee Conduct circa 1993-2000
This document from an administrator is a copy of employee conduct policies operative from about 1993 to 2000 and published in the Employee Handbook. The sexual conduct policy appears under “Employee Lifestyle Expectations” on the fourth page in the highlighted section.