The head diversity officer for Washington, D.C.'s Gallaudet University, the nation's premier college for the deaf, has been suspended from her position after it was revealed that she had signed a petition in Maryland to overturn that state's same-sex marriage law. Gallaudet's president, T. Alan Hurwitz, issued a statement indicating that Dr. Angela McCaskill, who signed the petition in July, had been placed on administrative leave immediately pending an investigation.

Dr. McCaskill is the first deaf black woman to earn a doctorate from the university, and has worked at Gallaudet for 23 years, beginning the diversity position last year.

Another faculty member reportedly spotted McCaskill’s name on the Maryland petition, and filed a complaint against her with the university. Dr. McCaskill explained that she had signed the petition at her church, after her pastor had spoken about the biblical position on traditional marriage. She said that her husband had pointed out the petition and she signed it as she was leaving church.

“It recently came to my attention that Dr. McCaskill has participated in a legislative initiative some feel is inappropriate for an individual serving as Chief Diversity Officer,” Hurwitz wrote on the university's Facebook page. The 160,000 signatures on the petition was enough to place the law before Maryland voters, who will have an opportunity to repeal it on November 6. Hurwitz said that he would “use the extended time while she is on administrative leave to determine the appropriate next steps taking into consideration the duties of this position at the university.”

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Photo: Gallaudet University