Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 22:17:31 -0800 From: John.M.Blandford.2@nd.edu (Blandford) Subject: MEDIA RELEASE: Notre Dame Faculty Rebukes Gay Policy March 7, 1995 CONTACT: John Blandford 219.232.6332 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Notre Dame Faculty Strongly Rebukes Newly Articulated Gay Policy NOTRE DAME, IN -- The Faculty Senate of the University of Notre Dame tonight called for the formal recognition of an unrecognized gay student group, rejecting the arguments of Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia O'Hara who defended the administration's position before the body. The senate adopted by a wide margin a resolution that "calls upon the officers of the university immediately to recognize GLND/SMC." The resolution passed with 30 members casting votes in favor, 3 opposed, and four abstaining. The senate action further isolates the Notre Dame administration in its decade-long refusal to recognize a student gay group and in its recent move to bar the group's meetings on campus. The student group, Gays and Lesbians of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College (GLND/SMC), was told in January that it would be barred from further meetings in the University Counseling Center, a space it had used with knowledge of administrators for nearly nine years. Since word of the university's action became public, the Notre Dame campus has been the site of three demonstrations organized by other campus organizations. Last Thursday, some 400 gathered outside the student center to hear faculty, student leaders and GLND/SMC officers speak against the university's position. The senate's vote comes just a day after the Office of Student Affairs purchased space in the campus paper to fully articulate its position. In the two-page ad, O'Hara re-asserted the administration's position that recognizing any gay group would be inconsistent with the university's mission. Significantly, however, O'Hara acknowledged that administration officials had "acted too slowly and presumed too much about the adequacy of our efforts in prior years." The document announced plans to form a committee to study how Notre Dame might improve its efforts to address the needs of gay and lesbian students, but the new committee would be precluded from studying "recognition of GLND/SMC or another student group." The committee was to have offered recommendations no later than December 6, 1995. At tonight's meeting many senate members expressed fears that the proposed committee would be a means for the administration to bury the issue. The publication of the document by the Office of Student Affairs was prompted by a resolution passed two weeks ago by the Campus Life Council that called for the recognition of the gay group. University regulations require that the Student Affairs respond publicly to any Campus Life Council resolution passed by a 2/3 majority. If there is no response, the resolution becomes official policy. The Council, comprised of residence hall rectors, faculty, administration officials and students, is intended to be the body that formally advises Student Affairs on matters affecting student life. The Faculty Senate's action means that every representative body on campus has opposed the Notre Dame administration and called for the group's recognition. In February resolutions were adopted by the undergraduate Student Senate, Graduate Student Council, Hall Presidents Council, Graduate Theological Union, and Campus Life Council. Commented GLND/SMC Co-Chair John Blandford, "The Notre Dame administration is fast losing legitimacy for its claims to speak with authority on this and other issues affecting students. It cannot continue to defy the will of the university community and expect to be respected. At the same time, we are overwhelmed and gratified by the level of support that has been shown the group by Notre Dame's students, faculty and staff." #