The Observer, October 13, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 7
Outside the Circle
Affirmative action for gay students at Middlebury College
At a recent conference for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), officials discussed the idea of offering affirmative action consideration for gay applicants. More students than ever are coming out during the admissions process, and the admissions officers were trying to find the best method for handling the students. They all agreed that the students should not be discriminated against, but there was a divide over affirmative action.
For the first time, Middlebury College gave gay applicants a boost. They were given an "attribute," which acts as an application flag like an ethnic minority, student athlete, or alumni child would receive. Rae Passalacqua, the assistant director of admissions at Middlebury, said that these students add diversity to the campus. Students identified as straight allies were also often given some preference, because they benefit the whole campus.
Skeptics mention how easily this practice could fly out of control if it were widely adopted. "What if people just start to say, 'Hey, I'm gay,'" said Greg McCandless, associate director of admission at Harvey Mudd College. "Are we going to follow them around for a semester?"
Some also say that closeted gays might not encounter any of the discrimination that other affirmative action laws work to compensate. Most admissions officials agreed that it is acceptable to declare sexual orientation during the admissions process, if the applicant is comfortable. A high school counselor brought up the idea that if a student is rejected for their sexual orientation, it probably would not have been a good place for that student.
Students take over campus building at Gallaudet University
Students and faculty at Gallaudet University, the only university for deaf students, are fighting back against the appointment of Jane K. Fernandes as university president by the Board of Trustees. In the past months, protests have included letters and demonstrations on the quad. However, the students felt that the board was ignoring them, so they took things to the next level.
Students took over the Hall Memorial Building last Thursday night, after a meeting with the Board of Trustees. Hundreds of students barricaded themselves inside the building, and were joined by faculty and alumni. The alumni association soon plans to seek independence from the university.
Fernandes was ranked last in a student poll last spring and received a vote of no confidence from the faculty. Fernandes is the second deaf president at Gallaudet, and she did not learn sign language until late in her life, which many say is a reason for dislike. The Board of Trustees maintains that it has listened to the concerns of the students and faculty and simply disagrees.
Students at Randolph-Macon Woman's College file suit to keep men out
The Board of Trustees at Randolph-Macon Woman's College voted to admit men this year, allowing them to enter next fall. The college felt that there were not enough women interested in attending a single-sex college, and so is opening its doors to men for the first time. However, some of the current students are upset.
Nine students (four freshman, one sophomore, and four juniors) have filed a lawsuit against R-MWC, demanding that men not be admitted until 2010, when all the current students will have graduated. The students say that R-MWC entered a contract with them to provide them with a women-only undergraduate education and that admitting men would be a breach of this contract.
Students are being helped by an alumnae group, Preserve Educational Choice, which had been trying to get the board to reconsider its vote. The group has promised to help the college recruit women and to provide more financial support.
R-MWC's Interim President, Virginia Hill Worden, said that it would not be practical to try to attract students to a school advertising itself as being single-sex for three years coed after that. "You simply have to be one or the other," Worden said. "If their objections had merit, no college would ever be able to go coed."
Lawsuit over University of North Dakota's nickname
North Dakota state officials are suing the NCAA over its restrictions on UND's nickname, Fighting Sioux. The state is seeking permission to use the nickname during the school year without consequences in post-season play and some monetary damages. The suit claims a breach of contract, breach of good faith, and restraint of trade.
Bob Williams, NCAA spokesman, said he was not surprised that UND is suing, and the NCAA is ready for the fight. "We are planning on aggressively defending our right and our responsibility, quite frankly, to conduct our own NCAA championships in an environment free of racial stereotyping," Williams said.
Other schools had received similar restrictions from the NCAA, and then won their nicknames back on appeal. Some of them include the Florida State University Seminoles, the Central Michigan University Chippewas, and the University of Utah Utes.
