Humanities that aimed at funding an expansion of its museum studies program. In mid-September the New England Association of Schools and Colleges gave the college a year to report on how its non-discrimination policies met the organization's standards for accreditation. At its April 2015 meeting, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges affirmed that Gordon's accreditation remained in good standing, with no further action required by the Commission at that time. Conservative legal organizations have offered to represent the college in lawsuits that would argue that severing ties to the school constituted retaliation for the exercise of free speech and the practice of religion. Lindsay declined those offers and later said he would not have signed the letter had he anticipated the reaction and the impact on Gordon. The school subsequently reviewed its code of conduct, which, in addition to banning sex outside of marriage, bans homosexual practice. Based on that review, Lindsay announced that "its policy barring student or faculty sex out of heterosexual marriage will remain as is." In addition, Gordon College rolled out several initiatives aimed at preventing bullying of gay, lesbian, transsexual, and bisexual students. Lawsuits In 2015, Lauren Barthold, associate professor in the department of philosophy, filed a lawsuit against the college for retaliating against her because she publicly disagreed with the college's President D. Michael Lindsay who sought to allow federal contractors, on the basis of religion, to discriminate against LBGTQ individuals in hiring. The lawsuit contends that the college violated state laws protecting against retaliation. As part of a joint resolution, Prof. Barthold resigned in 2016. In 2017, the college was sued by Margaret DeWeese-Boyd, associate professor in the department of sociology and social work. DeWeese-Boyd filed a complaint in Essex Superior Court claiming that the college's President Lindsay and Provost Janel Curry discriminated against her because of her gender and denied her promotion to full professorship for advocating against the school's LGBTQ policies. The college filed a motion seeking a summary judgment to determine whether the ministerial exception clause barred DeWeese-Boyd from suing. In November 2019, both parties appeared before the court for a hearing and DeWeese-Boyd argued that she never worked as a minister with the college. On April 2, 2020, Judge Jeffrey T. Karp of the Massachusetts Superior Court ruled against the ministerial exception defense. This decision was appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) based on the