wfn.org | ELCA Will Not Require Youth to Stay at Adam's Mark Hotel, St. Louis

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 9, 2000

ELCA WILL NOT REQUIRE YOUTH TO STAY AT ADAM'S MARK HOTEL, ST. LOUIS
00-024-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) does not intend to assign participants in this summer's Youth
Gathering 2000 to the Adam's Mark Hotel in St. Louis, nor will it use
any meeting facilities at the hotel, said the Rev. William H. Kees,
director of the ELCA Youth Gathering.
     The ELCA action is a response to a federal lawsuit filed against
the Adam's Mark Hotel chain in December 1999, in which the chain was
accused of racial discrimination.  The ELCA considers these matters to
be serious, Kees said.
     The Adam's Mark Hotel in St. Louis is designated as one of the
official hotels for housing youth and adults attending the ELCA's Youth
Gathering 2000.  Two identical events are planned for June 28 to July 2
and July 5 to July 9, Kees said.
     As a designated hotel, the Adam's Mark Hotel in St. Louis agreed
to make 700 guest rooms and some meeting rooms available to the ELCA
during each of the two events for the Youth Gathering, Kees said.
     The ELCA Youth Gathering, held every three years, is expected to
attract 45,000 youth and adult participants to St. Louis during the two-week 
period, Kees said.
     The lawsuit, filed by the U.S. Justice Department, alleges the
Adam's Mark Hotel chain engaged in a pattern and practice of racial
discrimination in its hotels, restaurants and related facilities.  The
lawsuit followed another widely publicized legal case, in which the
Adam's Mark Hotel, Daytona Beach, Fla., is accused of engaging in overt
and offensive discriminatory actions against minorities attending a
college reunion, Kees said.   "Other lawsuits containing allegations and
findings of racial discrimination by the Adam's Mark and its parent
company, HBE Corporation, have recently come to light as well," Kees
said.  "We understand, in some cases, the Adam's Mark has been found
guilty of discrimination.  In other cases, the hotel chain strenuously
denies it engaged in discriminatory conduct."
     "As a result, the ELCA cannot, in good conscience, require those
attending Youth Gathering 2000 to stay at the Adam's Mark Hotel in St.
Louis," Kees said.
     The church informed the hotel management of its plans, Kees said.
     "The ELCA would never knowingly agree to house any event in a
facility that engages in racial discrimination," Kees said. "The ELCA is
dedicated to advocating dignity and justice for all people.  It is
primary to this church's mission to discover and to address oppression
and injustice in order to further the cause of human dignity, freedom
and equality."
     Youth Gathering 2000's organizers are concerned that those
attending the events may object to being housed in a hotel that is
alleged to have treated minority college youth and even its own
employees in ways that are discriminatory, demeaning and illegal, Kees
added.
     The ELCA's decision not to assign people to rooms at the Adam's
Mark Hotel in St. Louis or use any of the hotel's meeting rooms does not
mean the ELCA is judging the outcome of any pending lawsuits, Kees said.
     "This simply means we will release the hotel's rooms for the
Adam's Mark to use as it sees fit," he said.   Kees explained the Youth
Gathering does not have to pay for rooms that are not used for the
event.
     "We recognize the Adam's Mark Hotel chain may successfully defend
itself against the pending charges," he said, "but the ELCA is bringing
up to 45,000 youth and adults to St. Louis over a two-week period this
summer so that they may have an uplifting experience of fellowship and
worship, faith and praise to God.  Our intention is to avoid any
incidents or experiences that might mar the planned celebration."

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html