Inspirational Feature by J1 Reporters
Victoria Ackermann and Carmen Miller

Diane Miller is not your typical minivan-mom.

There has never been anything “average” about her. She is a mother of six, grandmother of nine, coach, volunteer and most importantly, leader in her community.

Diane attributes many of her qualities to her father, Carmen Barone. “He was always very tough on me, and he didn’t approve of failures,” Miller said. She takes what he taught her about hard work and standing up for what she believes in, and tries to apply it to her everyday life.

One of her greatest challenges and most courageous acts happened at her children’s high school last year. There was an incident at Skutt Catholic where a teacher and speech coach, Matthew Eldege, was fired due to his engagement to his partner. This event caused a great disrupt throughout the community, and throughout the nation. A petition was formed in defense of the Skutt teacher and gained more than 100,000 supporters.

What is unknown to the general population are the events that occurred behind the scenes of this campaign, and Diane was a key part in it. She met Eldege through her son, Shane, who was on the speech team that he coached. “He went above and beyond for his students, and he was an adult that they felt that they could talk to,” Miller said.

When she found out that Eldege would not be allowed to return to the school because of his engagement to another man, her morals were tested. She a saw beloved teacher and incredibly successful coach being denied the right to educate the students that he loved because of who he loved.

“It really just hit me the wrong way,” Miller said. “He worked harder and cared more about these students than any teacher I’ve ever met. I’ve always felt that I have a need to fight for others, and I knew Mr. Eldege was worth fighting for.” Diane became a spokeswoman for the campaign by speaking to the administration on behalf of Eldege’s supporters, and even being interviewed on KETV to share their side of the story.

There is one common misconception that Diane wants to make clear, she did not do this out of spite. She has no hard feelings against Skutt or the Catholic Church, she is just fighting for what she believes in. “I understand that the school wants their teachers to follow the teachings of the Church, but if they are going to fire one teacher for living in sin, then they should fire all of the teachers who have also violated the Church’s teachings,” Miller said.

Diane has always been strong in her faith, and is inspired by Jesus and the Scriptures. “I always look to Jesus before making any decision,” Miller said. Her morals are greatly influenced by the love, accepting, and understanding that Jesus taught. “We need more focus on Biblical verses such as Luke 6:37 (Condemn not and you shall not be condemned), because we need more love and acceptance in our world,” Miller said.