The following story, written by Sara Acharya of the Cornell Daily Sun, appeared
 on April 12 and is reprinted without permission:

_C.U. Opens Family Housing to Unmarried, Gay Couples_

In an effort to comply with a local housing law which prohibits discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation, Cornell will open up its family housing uni
ts to unmarried and same-sex couples.

Starting this fall, Hasbrouck Apartments, Maplewood Park and Pleasant Grove Apa
rtments--formerly rented only to single parents or married heterosexual couples
--will be available to families and couples solely on the basis of their studen
t status.

In an April 9 letter to the Student Assembly, University President Frank H.T. R
hodes announced the changes, made to accomodate Tompkins County Local Law C, wh
ich states that it is unlawful to refuse to rent any type of housing accomodati
ons to people because of their sexual orientation.

"What we've done is to revise the admission requirements in order to bring them
 into compliance with Local Law C," Rhodes said.  "We've now got a very appropr
iate arrangement."

The administration's move comes in the wake of last month's Student Assembly re
solution, which called for the University to open up its family housing units t
o families and couples regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation
, as long as they were registered "domestic partners"--couples who simply live
together--with the City of Ithaca.

Although Rhodes did not approve the Assembly resolution, he said he felt "the n
ew standards accomplish the objectives of the resolution in a different fashion
 from that [which was] recommended" by the Assembly.

"This is a good step for gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues here at Cornell," sa
id Joseph Barrios '93, the gay/lesbian/bisexual representative to the Student A
ssembly, noting that Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, and H
arvard University have already adopted similar progressive housing policies.  "
The University has finally defined its position on Local Law C, and will now be
 forced to comply with it.

"This is even more farther-reaching than I had ever pictured, because the resid
ents don't even have to be domestic partners," he said.

Under the new rules, first priority for the units will be given to Cornell stud
ents with one to three legally dependent children.  After all of these families
 are assigned spaces, two candidates for graduate or professional degrees will
be accommodated next, followed by one graduate student accompanied by another a
dult.  Last priority will be given to undergraduate students and their partners
. 
t.  Last priority will be given to undergraduate students and their partners

While the recent guidelines are much broader than the former ones, Larry I. Pal
mer, vice president for academic programs and campus affairs, said he did not a
nticipate a flood of applicants interested in the units.

"These apartments are designed for older adult students and their children, and
 the major concern is to keep it that way," he said.  "We're hoping that this g
roup will still find them attractive."

Although Barrios said he had heard several stories of discrimination resulting
from Cornell's former family housing eligibility standards, Palmer said no appl
icant had been denied access to the units on the basis of marital status or sex
ual orientation since Local Law C was passed in 1992.

"We have always tried to be good citizens, comply with the law, and be responsi
ve to student needs," he said, adding that the new measures were adopted as par
t of the University's commitment to student autonomy.

"We don't believe that we as a University need to make inquiries into adult sex
uality or adult sexual behavior," he said.  "We live in a changing world and we
 are trying to be responsive to these changes."
                                               End of story

What a crock of bull on Larry's part.  If I had not passed that resolution last
 month the university would have continued to do nothing.  It has been over a y
ear and a half since the law passed, and gay activists have been working on
this for a very long time.  A proposal had been sitting for months on Rhodes' d
esk, asking him to change the policy, which he had completely ignored.

But I suppose the administrators need to save some face after being shown up by
 the Student Assembly and by queer activists.

                                             --Joe Barrios