Simpson College has announced that the school will continue to follow their own Diversity and Inclusion Statement after a recent decision by The United Methodist Church’s General Conference in St. Louis. At the conference, a “Traditionalist Plan” was adopted as policy, which tightens restrictions on the role members of the LGBTQ+ community will be allowed to assume in the church.

Simpson College, a private, Methodist-affiliated college, made the decision to continue following their own guidelines, and President Jay Simmons said of that change, “The Traditionalist Plan is not congruent with Simpson’s Diversity and Inclusion Statement, Simpson will continue to be a community committed to upholding the humanity in each and every one of us.”

Simpson College is a member of the National Association of Schools and Colleges of the United Methodist Church, which has appealed unsuccessfully to the General Conference to become a more inclusive church.