The Miami, Fla., university’s golf team, one of the top golf programs in the country, is no longer allowed to practice at the Doral, Fla., club, which it previously used free of charge. School administrators have deemed Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric to be “antithetical to the university’s core commitments of inclusive community and/or social justice.”
Barry University in Miami, Fla., one of the top golf programs in the country, is no longer allowed to practice at Trump National Doral Miami golf course because administrators deemed Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric to be inconsistent with the university’s values, the Arlington, Va.-based CampusReform.org reported.
Late last year, Barry University President Sister Linda Bevilacqua, in consultation with the Executive Committee of the Administration, determined that Trump’s campaign rhetoric conflicts with the university’s mission, triggering an automatic severing of relations with all businesses and organizations in which he holds a senior leadership position, CampusReform.org reported.
Vice President for Institutional Advancement and External Affairs Sara Herald, who also serves on the Executive Committee, said the decision was not politically motivated, “as we do not take positions relative to candidates,” but rather was based on a policy intended to ensure that Barry remains true to its fundamental values, CampusReform.org reported.
“As a practice, Barry University does not engage in business relationships where senior leadership of a company takes a public position, or the company’s guiding principles are, antithetical to the university’s core commitments of inclusive community and/or social justice,” she said. “This practice, which has been in place for some time, is not political, as we do not take positions relative to candidates. We seek only to ensure fulfillment of our values through our institutional business related ventures and expenditures.”
She also pointed out that the prohibition does not apply to students or employees in their individual capacities, and that it would not preclude Trump from appearing alongside other candidates in the context of a debate, CampusReform.org reported.
Neither the Trump campaign nor the Trump Organization seem to have taken notice of Barry’s boycott, but members of the school’s golf team have. According to several individuals affiliated with the university on condition of anonymity, the men’s golf team—which won national championships in 2007, 2013, and 2014—had previously been allowed to practice, free of charge, at the high-quality Trump Doral course three to four times per year, but now must resort to daily-fee courses, putting stress on the team’s budget, CampusReform.org reported.
“I can tell you that this decision has affected us quite a bit because Doral is one of the nicest courses in Florida, with outstanding practice facilities and the golf courses in the resort are really hard and challenging,” golfer Alberto Bianco said. “They would be ideal for our golf team to practice on because they will provide us with tough playing conditions which we don’t find a lot of where we play now.”
Bianco did note that the other courses at which the team practices are also quite nice, which his teammate Nicolas Cavero confirmed, saying, “The decision I thought was a little severe but it really hasn’t affected us much.”
In addition to preventing the team from practicing at Trump Doral, the “Trump ban” has also negatively affected recruiting, in that coaches are no longer able to officially represent Barry at an annual junior golf tournament at Trump Doral featuring top prospects from around the world, CampusReform.org reported.
This particular instance is the latest in a long line of liberal-leaning stances that Barry University’s administration has taken in furtherance of its mission, including some that have garnered national headlines. A survey of Barry students revealed that zero percent of the student body identifies as “very conservative,” while 13 percent identifies as “very liberal” and 20 percent as “liberal,” CampusReform.org reported.
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