Office of Public Information
Columbia University
New York, 10027                         For use upon receipt
                                        October 5, 1993

                COLUMBIA TO OFFER MEDICAL BENEFITS
                  TO SAME-SEX DOMESTIC PARTNERS

Columbia University has announced it will offer medical benefits to same-sex
domestic partners of its full-time faculty and administrative officers.

The University Trustees approved the move at their June meeting, and the
policy will go into effect January 1, 1994, announced Provost Jonathan R.
Cole, chairman of the President's Committee on Fringe Benefits at Columbia.

"We feel this is an important change because it fills a real gap in coverage
that should be available to all," he said.  "Gay and lesbian domestic partners
are important members of the Columbia community.  Simple justice and fairness
require us to extend these benefits to them.  Our studies show that providing
them will not add significantly to the University's fringe benefits costs."

Under the plan, domestic partners of the same sex in a committed relationship
with joint and reciprocal financial responsibilities will be entitled to the
same medical insurance coverage offered to married couples and dependents.

Dr. Cole noted that Columbia was among the first research universities to
offer medical benefits to this group.  Similar eligibility has been extended
by Stanford University, the University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, the University of Iowa, and the University of California at
Berkeley and at Santa Cruz.  Planning for such coverage is underway at Harvard
and Yale.

Columbia defines a domestic partnership as "two individuals of the same gender
who live together in a long-term relationship of indefinite duration, with an
exclusive mutual commitment similar to that of marriage, in which the partners
have agreed to be responsible for each other's welfare and share financial
obligations."

The plan has been submitted to the New York State Insurance Department, which
must approve it before implementation.

To apply for domestic partner status, a Columbia faculty or staff member must
be of legal marriageable age and must have been sharing a household on a
continuing basis for six prior months. To show common financial obligations,
the couple must meet any two of five conditions:  1) hold a joint mortgage or
lease, 2) designate a partner as beneficiary for life insurance or retirement
benefits, 3) designate a partner as primary beneficiary in the Columbia
employee's will; 4) assign durable power of attorney or health care power of
attorney to the partner, and 5) jointly own a bank account, credit account or
motor vehicle.

The criteria for qualification of dependent children of a partner are the same
as those for the child or step-chid or married spouse of an employee.