A West Central Ohio retired teacher, Judy, an alumna of the University of Dayton, was left distraught following a phone call she made to the University of Dayton Magazine staff. The Magazine—and apparently the university it represented-- had again departed from its Catholic Christian heritage and from God’s Word, the Bible.
In this Autumn 2025 issue was an article titled “Becoming me” that lauds the success of a U.D. graduate who, among other achievements, also has the distinction of being a board member of the Human Rights Campaign, the most influential and active LGBTQ+ political action committee in the U.S. The U.D. grad being interviewed in the article is quoted saying, “As a student, I didn’t meet any alumni who were LGBTQ+. I want today’s students to see someone who looks like them, who loves like them and who’s built a life they can be proud of. It’s also why I joined U.D.’s School of Business Advisory Council.”
On page 16 of the same University of Dayton Magazine issue, in a sidebar to the article, “Wearing their hearts on their bookshelves,” photos of several recommended books line the margin. One is of a YA (for ages 12 to 18) dystopian novel titled All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown. In part, the book’s description reads, “. . .Andrew and Jamie survive together—and fall in love—in this queer YA romance set at the end of the world.” Brown, who is gay himself, has written other queer YA books.
Finally, on the last page of the Autumn 2025 University of Dayton Magazine, in an article titled “It means ‘love,’” the editor laments that in compliance with Senate Bill 1 (regarding DEI) in Ohio, the other Dayton university, Wright State University, “would be closing all identity centers and diversity-related programs across [WSU’s] campus. . .” Wright State’s LGBTQA Center would be one of those closed. It sounds like the University of Dayton hopes to fill the need.
After Judy, the U.D. alumna phone caller referenced in paragraph #1 above, had introduced herself and explained her reasons for concern, which included what people in conservative West Central Ohio had been facing in recent years---drag queen shows being performed in front of children in a public park; a public LGBTQIA+ festival another year when bouncy houses enticed children to enter; LGBTQIA+ books meeting (K-‘tween) children’s eyes on local public library shelves, etc. --- Judy then referenced God’s Word regarding homosexuality and urged the University of Dayton Magazine spokesperson on the other end of the phone line to at least turn to Romans Chapter 1 in the Bible to see the contradiction in what the (Catholic Christian) University of Dayton was now apparently advocating. The U.D. spokesperson said, “I won’t do that,” and hung up the phone.
