Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 09:30:33 -0400 (EDT) From: David Casti Subject: ACTION ALERT: Indiana University at Bloomington Hi folks, Attached are two information items on this topic. Brand came most recently from the University of Oregon where he was a strong supporter of GLB* issues, and although he wasn't always on our side, he was instrumental in getting some important policy changes made. I met with him on a few different occasions and it's difficult for me to think that he would have flipped so far the other way, unless he is under some serious pressure. Anyway, although he may have caved in, it may be more effective to try to evoke sympathy from him and appeal to his sense of fair play than to go saber-rattling. This time. David. A University of Oregon Presidential Scholar under the Brand administration... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Submitted by: Richard Brown An Open Letter to All Indiana University Alumni: Recently there has been a disturbing turn of events in terms of policy-making here at Indiana University in Bloomington. As you may or may not be aware, a new president has taken office at IU. His name is Myles Brand and he comes from the University of Oregon. For the past seven years there have been many task forces and commmittees designed to evaluate the status of gays on campus. The Indiana University Student Association and the Board of Aeons have both recommended that the university establish a center since 1989. This center was about to come to fruition this semester, but something unexpected and unacceptable has happened. Our new president met with state representative Woody Burton from Greenwood, Indiana, on October 13, 1994. On October 14, an article appeared in the Bloomington Herald-Times wherein Rep. Burton announced that the university would not fund the office with money from the general fund, and that instead that university would seek private funding. Also, the name of the office has been changed to fall under the newly created Office of Student Ethics and Anti-Harassment. For someone who had planned on just watching and learning about the university in his first year here, Myles Brand has managed to undo a lot of good work done by a lot of talented people. By caving in to the demands of a state representative who never attended college and who is racist, anti-Semetic, and homophobic, Brand has betrayed the GLB community at IU. If you would like to express your outrage to president Brand, you can write him e-mail at pres@indiana.edu. Alternatively, you can write to him at: Bryan Hall 200, B-ton, IN 47405. Contacts for further information about this topic are sagreen@ucs.indiana.edu, rkheshti@ucs.indiana.edu, and lsneed@indiana.edu. Sincerely, Sally Green President of OUT Media Representative of ZERO TOLERANCE ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Submitted by: Daniel Soto Mayorga Subject: The secret deals of Pres. Brand: Listen my children and you shall hear how President Brand sold out the queers. After more than two, long, years of negotiations, studies and red tape, last June Indiana University announced that it would open an Office of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Student Services (with a minuscule budget of only $50,000.) on the Bloomington campus. This was a totally done deal, my friends. Every protocol was observed, every university committee was consulted, all the right procedures were taken, even the Board of Trustees signed off on it. As soon as the public announcement was made, however, an ultra right-wing state senator, by the name of Woody Burton,( an inveterate liar and neo-racist who, by the way, does not even hold a bachelor's degree) started screaming bloody-moralistic-taxpayer murder (in the mean time, of course, generating as much political milage for himself as possible, this is an election year, you will recall) . The university insisted repeatedly that, despite all the negative press unleashed by Burton, it was gong ahead with the office. In the interim, however, I.U. was "blessed" with a new President, Myles Brand (of U. of Oregon fame). Apparently hoping to curry favor with what he perceived as a potentially hostile state legislature, Brand has now done a behind-the-scenes deal with Burton to, at the very least, strip the previously approved GLB office of its queer identity by changing the name to The Office of Student Ethics and Anti-Harassment (shades of "don't ask, don't tell"). It must be kept in mind that two full years of work on the part of students, faculty and administration went into finally establishing an Office of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Student Services on the I.U. campus, and now the new President, Mr. Brand, without even so much as consulting the university community, would overturn everything just for the sake of placating a tin-pot state senator who has a big mouth. We're being sold down the river yet again for the sake of political expediency! We urge you, we beg you to voice your outrage at this betrayal by contacting President Brand at the following E-mail address: pres@indiana.edu. Also, please write to President Myles Brand at: Indiana University Office of the President Bryan Hall Bloomington, Indiana 47405 As well, you may wish to contact Kenneth Gros Louis, University Chancellor by E-mail at: grosloui@indiana.edu. By the way, Gros Louis is on our side. Part of the rationale put forth by Brand's office for this back-stabbing is that they have received so much negative response to the GLB Office, so please, please get your "cards and letters" moving. We need your support!!! Signed, Desperate in Bloomington, Gary Pool & Daniel Soto and the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Community P.S. Please forward a copy of your mail to us at dsoto@indiana.edu. P.P.S. Please feel free to forward this message to any sympathetic party you may choose. ***************************************************************************** * Daniel Soto Mayorga * Pledge of allegiance: "...with liberty and * DSOTO@INDIANA.EDU * justice for all" Why is "all" so hard to * DSOTO@UCS.INDIANA.EDU * understand ? * DANIELTICO@AOL.COM * *****************************************************************************