1) Star Tribune; U prof wants anti-gay smart-online app removed from Apple online store\
2) State News; MSU wins bid to host national LGBT conference in spring 2013
3) Bucknell.edu; Student launches anti-bullying campaign
4) Inside Higher Ed; Chestnut Hill Reaches Settlement with Gay priest
5) Pennlive; Dickinson College is among colleges and universities adding unisex bathrooms
6) State News; Gender neutral MSU holds information sessions
7) Daily Targum; Campus reflects six months after Clementi death
8) Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel; Marquette University to offer domestic partner benefits
1) U prof wants anti-gay smart-phone app removed from Apple online store
By PAUL WALSH, March 21, 2011
A University of Minnesota professor is demanding that Apple remove from its online store a smart-phone app that he says distorts his research on homosexuality to support the argument that homosexuality is a behavior that can be changed.
Dr. Gary Remafedi, director of the Youth and AIDS Projects and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, sent a letter Monday to Apple founder Steven Jobs and its interim CEO, Tim Cook, about the Exodus International app.
Remafedi wrote that the app "erroneously cites my research in support of claims that homosexuality can be changed. ... Associating my work with that of the ex-gay ministry and other unfounded treatments is professionally injurious and grievous."
In an interview Monday, he said Exodus' app falsely cites his research as saying the young people are "confused" about their sexual orientation.
Florida-based Exodus International, which describes itself as "the world's largest worldwide ministry to those struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction," says its app is "a useful resource for men, women, parents, students and ministry leaders."
A rival national organization, Truth Wins Out, said the app directs users to a Web page that answers various questions about homosexuality, among them: "If people are same-sex attracted but don't ever act on it, does that make them homosexual?" In the answers, Exodus "twists the findings of Dr. Remafedi" from 1992 to make it appear homosexuality is "just a transitory phase in youth," Truth Wins Out said in a statement.
Remafedi said he has challenged many misrepresentations of his work over the years and has had "100 percent" success in doing so.
He said an Apple administrator sent him an e-mail in response to his letter. "They said they are on it," Remafedi said. "I am simply pointing out a problem. I'm sure they will do the right thing."
Calls to Apple for comment were not returned Monday.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
2) MSU wins bid to host national LBGT conference in spring 2013
MSU lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender student groups and officials are in the planning stages for the Midwest Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Ally College Conference, or the MBLGTACC, in the spring semester of 2013.
After recently winning the bid to host the conference over Northern Illinois University, student groups — such as the Alliance of Queer and Ally Students, Respecting Individuals on Neutral Grounds, or RING, Spectrum and others — have pooled their strengths to begin the tedious process of planning the largest student-organized conference in the nation, said Travis Lunsford, a no-preference freshman and Spectrum representative for Holmes Hall.
The conference last was held at MSU in 2002.
“Part of going to college and getting higher education is to increase your awareness and to become more of a global citizen — to be able to interact with everyone regardless of their identity, including sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said. “It’s important for college students to get that education — that way, they are prepared for a diverse, dynamic work environment.”
Typically hosting about 2,000 students from across the U.S., the conference costs will range from $150,000 to $200,000, depending on various expenses including speaker fees and the amount of financial and physical help the university and area businesses are willing to donate, said Kate Miller, a public administration and public policy senior and project analyst of the MSU MBLGTACC Planning Coalition.
Financial support for the conference has yet to be determined, she said.
“All of the feedback we got was incredibly positive,” Miller said. “(Some faculty members are) under the notion that they want to change some of their curriculums for that spring semester 2013 to reflect a more LBGT heavy format … so that they can prepare students to attend this conference.”
The level of student commitment and the level of professionalism students bring to the conference and the planning process also is much greater than it has been in the past, said Nick Pfost, a social relations and policy senior and the Alliance of Queer and Ally Students chairperson.
“It kind of became more of an community goal, which was really good because it’s not all on one organization to do,” he said. “We made sure we went through and got all of the logistical information like educational state and the availability of a venue that’s large enough to accommodate all the conference participants.”
MSU officials plan for the 2013 conference to have a theme of “the mosaic,” putting the pieces together, Lunsford said.
“It’s going to look at not just your gender identity or your sexual orientation but your race, your class status, your cultural ethnicity and where they intersect and interact,” he said.
Although support for the conference has been garnered from officials, including MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and faculty of various academic colleges, some students think that the campus will meet the conference with reluctance, Pfost said.
“I think everything that happens will have some sort of impact on the overall campus, but I don’t think (the conference) will do anything that’s revolutionary,” he said. “I don’t view it as being, ‘Oh well, we’re in this position right now, but things are going to be so much better when we’re done.’ Change happens incrementally.”
Others, such as Allison Yore, an English and communication sophomore, think although some students might meet the conference with apprehension, educating oneself is the main goal.
“In all of my classes, (the LBGT community is) something that we talk about,” she said. “It’s becoming more and more common in society, and you can’t ignore it — so, you need to be educated on it.”
3) Student launches anti-bullying campaign
By Julia Ferrante; March 21, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. — As a grade-school student in upstate New York, Dan Murphy was bullied.
"I was a larger student, and people used to make fun of me for my weight," he recalled. "I was bullied from late elementary school until mid-high school, mostly for looking different. People don't understand what a detrimental effect they have. They forget about what they said a minute after they say it, but the person they are saying it to internalizes it."
Now an elementary education major at Bucknell University, Murphy draws on his past experiences as a staunch advocate against bullying. So when he learned about syndicated columnist Dan Savage's national It Gets Better campaign, he knew he wanted to make Bucknell a part of it.
National campaign
The national It Gets Better campaign was launched in September 2010 in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas, Tyler Clementi and other teens who were bullied because they were gay or suspected to be gay. The goal of the initiative, which comprises a series of video messages and essays on YouTube and the It Gets Better website, is to prevent suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths by reassuring them they are not alone, they have support and things do indeed get better.
The national It Gets Better campaign was launched in September 2010 in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas, Tyler Clementi and other teens who were bullied because they were gay or suspected to be gay. The goal of the initiative, which comprises a series of video messages and essays on YouTube and the It Gets Better website, is to prevent suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths by reassuring them they are not alone, they have support and things do indeed get better.
More than 200 people participated in the Bucknell It Gets Better campaign, which is co-sponsored by the Office for Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and Bucknell Student Government. The campaign includes a wall of photos in the Elaine Langone Center and another display in Bertrand Library showing students, faculty, administrators and staff holding signs in several languages with messages ranging from the standard "It Gets Better" to "You are amazing." The effort seeks to educate the entire university community about bullying and to offer hope and optimism to those who may be struggling with their sexuality or simply with the stresses of academic life, Murphy said.
Murphy, who works for the Office of Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, asked Associate Dean of Students Amy Badal and Grant Hoover, the assistant director of residential education for diverse communities, to help him secure space for a photo display carrying the It Gets Better message. The plan is to keep the display up until at least March 28.
"Dan was instrumental in bringing this project to fruition," Badal said. "He deserves to be recognized for his efforts and for bringing such an important topic such as bullying to the forefront.
"We are pleased with the response from students, faculty, and staff — many who complimented the campaign and were eager to have their photo taken."
Spreading the message
The group decided to spread the message through photos rather than video to allow as many people as possible to participate, Hoover said.
The group decided to spread the message through photos rather than video to allow as many people as possible to participate, Hoover said.
"We wanted a visual presentation that was a sign of support for the LGBT community," Hoover said. "It does kind of feel like you are isolated in that bubble and you're the only one sometimes. The new space in the ELC allows for a big presentation to draw attention and draw people in. The participants could write anything they wanted on their signs. Some of the international students wrote in their native languages. Some signs were hand-drawn and others printed out."
Karel Parve, a junior international relations major who transferred to Bucknell through the Community College Scholars program in the fall, is pictured in several of the group photos. Parve said he knew right away he wanted to be involved.
A native of Estonia who moved to the United States for educational opportunities, Parve spent a summer at Bucknell in preparation for transferring to a four-year university through a scholarship supported by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. During the summer program, he had a life-changing experience. Someone made a derogatory comment about his sexuality one day. The next day, a good friend asked him if he was gay.
"I lived in the closet for 20 years, and I thought, 'OK, this is enough. I don't want to do this anymore,'" he said. "It is such a taboo topic in Estonia. Right now, there is no one to look up to and say, 'It's OK to be who you are.' I feel like my generation didn't have anyone to look up to in the gay, bisexual and transgender community."
At Bucknell that's different, said Parve, who now works in the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Awareness. He wanted to help spread the message through the It Gets Better campaign in the hope that others will find the courage to come out or simply think twice before making a derogatory comment.
"They let you be who you want to be at Bucknell," Parve said. "For someone coming from a post-Soviet country like me, Bucknell is so open and loving. It has opened so many doors for me."
Contact: Division of Communications
4) Chestnut Hill Reaches Settlement With Gay Priest
Rev. James St. George, a gay priest, on Monday announced that he had reached "an amicable resolution" with Chestnut Hill College that will end the controversy over its decision to end his work teaching as an adjunct. "This resolution is consistent with each party's respective religious beliefs and was arrived at over this past weekend," said his statement. "Chestnut Hill College and I have expressed our respect for each other's churches, however different our religious principles may be. We are committed to moving forward and tending to our respective ministries." Chestnut Hill is a Roman Catholic college, and it revoked contracts with Father St. George after senior officials received a complaint about his being a gay priest. Father St. George is part of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas, which split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1870s over a number of issues. Today it practices many Catholic rituals and shares some Catholic theology, but also permits priests to be married or gay. A college spokeswoman said that Father St. George's statement was consistent with Chestnut Hill's views on the settlement.
5) Dickinson College is among colleges and universities adding unisex bathrooms
By ELIZABETH GIBSON; Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Lights were dimmed and the discs were spinning as the first couples arrived at Dickinson College’s Moulin Rouge dance party.
Some of the same-sex couples swept in wearing ostentatious designs. Others wore simple jeans and T-shirts to the event for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students.
Jonathan Ontiberos hurried across the floor to take care of a last detail.
He taped signs, hastily printed on yellow sheets, over the words “Men” and “Women” on restroom doors. Signs stated, “This is an all-gender bathroom.”
As president of Dickinson’s Spectrum Club for LGBT students, Ontiberos wanted students to be comfortable. They could change clothes, put on a bit of lip gloss or just use the facilities without confronting an example of society’s disregard for their needs.
Soon, he won’t have to bother with temporary signs. The Carlisle campus is permanently converting some bathrooms across campus for unisex use. Single-stall restrooms that were designated “Men” or “Women” will sport the international unisex sign showing both a man and a woman.
The private college is among the first in the midstate to make gender-neutral restrooms available for LGBT staff and students.
However, schools across the country are responding to students’ sexual orientation and gender identity by adjusting traditional health, safety and social services.
Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi’s suicide, after a roommate allegedly covertly videotaped intimate moments he shared with another student, riveted national attention on the issue.
Campus Pride has been looking at acceptance and accommodation for LGBT people at U.S. private and public colleges and universities since 2001. The national nonprofit offers an alternative to rankings in the yearly Princeton Review, which Campus Pride refutes. Princeton’s list of LGBT-friendly colleges is extracted from answers to a question about campus climate, Pride claims, not services for LGBT students.
Of the 264 colleges that volunteered to be studied in 2010-11, only 26, or 10 percent, earned scores of five stars, the highest available rating. Two of the nine Pennsylvania colleges were top-ranked: the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State University.
The University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, Bucknell University and Lehigh University are among colleges in the state that have gender-neutral restrooms on campus.
Ontiberos doesn’t fit a sexual stereotype.
He feels as natural wearing a skirt and blouse and carrying a purse as he does donning jeans and a sweater. His nails are perennially manicured in gem tones with sparkles that makes his dark eyes pop.
In his nearly four years on the campus of about 2,200 students, Ontiberos hasn’t been harassed.
“Because I don’t conform to gender norms, people do take a second look. As long as I’m not alone, I don’t feel unsafe,” he said in a conversation during this week’s spring break.
Ontiberos spent last week on campus to wrestle piles of notes into a paper that will be his senior thesis. It examines “queer” issues in Russia. Ontiberos spent a semester there, immersed in Russian culture while living with a grandmotherly host in Moscow. There, diversity in sexual orientation isn’t welcomed, he said.
When Ontiberos left his California home for Carlisle in 2007, he didn’t have experience with being excluded because of his attire or club affiliations.
“I wasn’t out. When I came here, I just decided to start fresh. I decided to come out and live my life,” he said.
Like most other male freshmen, he moved into a men-only floor in a dormitory. Ontiberos was uncomfortable sharing a bathroom with straight men. His resident assistant converted an unused women’s bathroom to a gender-neutral restroom. Ontiberos was the only man who used it that year, he said.
A survey of 1,700 LGBT student and faculty conducted in 2003 by Penn State professor Susan Rankin found that their contributions and concerns often aren’t ignored. More than a third of students and nearly 20 percent of LGBT professors surveyed reported they’d been harassed.
Harassment mostly took the form of derogatory remarks primarily made by students, the survey found. Just over half hid their sexual orientation to avoid intimidation, and more than a fifth reported fearing for their physical safety.
Unisex bathrooms are just one of numerous solutions sought by LGBT advocates.
According to a checklist put out by the Web-based Transgender Law and Policy Institute, expanding student health insurance to cover services for students undergoing hormone treatment or gender surgery can be critical. A few schools — none in the state — cover hormones and surgery follow-up through student health insurance.
Dickinson College formed a LGBT task force that’s weighing changes. The school hasn’t done an assessment, but it has championed gender-identity equity in the past. Officials say Dickinson was one of the first U.S. colleges to offer health benefits to partners in same-sex couples.
Ontiberos and other students want more policy revisions. This year, the student senate, of which Ontiberos is a member, proposed gender-neutral dorms.
“We are working with senate leadership to advance it,” college spokeswoman Christine Dugan said.
Ontiberos said the school has a ways to go to eliminate prejudice.
“People throw around the word ‘faggot’ a lot. I’ve had friends who’ve been directly harassed about their orientation,” Ontiberos said.
“I do honestly believe officials and different groups do want to work to make the campus better. At the same time, there is a big clash with the campus culture,” he said.
Some of the same-sex couples swept in wearing ostentatious designs. Others wore simple jeans and T-shirts to the event for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students.
Jonathan Ontiberos hurried across the floor to take care of a last detail.
He taped signs, hastily printed on yellow sheets, over the words “Men” and “Women” on restroom doors. Signs stated, “This is an all-gender bathroom.”
As president of Dickinson’s Spectrum Club for LGBT students, Ontiberos wanted students to be comfortable. They could change clothes, put on a bit of lip gloss or just use the facilities without confronting an example of society’s disregard for their needs.
Soon, he won’t have to bother with temporary signs. The Carlisle campus is permanently converting some bathrooms across campus for unisex use. Single-stall restrooms that were designated “Men” or “Women” will sport the international unisex sign showing both a man and a woman.
The private college is among the first in the midstate to make gender-neutral restrooms available for LGBT staff and students.
However, schools across the country are responding to students’ sexual orientation and gender identity by adjusting traditional health, safety and social services.
Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi’s suicide, after a roommate allegedly covertly videotaped intimate moments he shared with another student, riveted national attention on the issue.
Campus Pride has been looking at acceptance and accommodation for LGBT people at U.S. private and public colleges and universities since 2001. The national nonprofit offers an alternative to rankings in the yearly Princeton Review, which Campus Pride refutes. Princeton’s list of LGBT-friendly colleges is extracted from answers to a question about campus climate, Pride claims, not services for LGBT students.
Of the 264 colleges that volunteered to be studied in 2010-11, only 26, or 10 percent, earned scores of five stars, the highest available rating. Two of the nine Pennsylvania colleges were top-ranked: the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State University.
The University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, Bucknell University and Lehigh University are among colleges in the state that have gender-neutral restrooms on campus.
Ontiberos doesn’t fit a sexual stereotype.
He feels as natural wearing a skirt and blouse and carrying a purse as he does donning jeans and a sweater. His nails are perennially manicured in gem tones with sparkles that makes his dark eyes pop.
In his nearly four years on the campus of about 2,200 students, Ontiberos hasn’t been harassed.
“Because I don’t conform to gender norms, people do take a second look. As long as I’m not alone, I don’t feel unsafe,” he said in a conversation during this week’s spring break.
Ontiberos spent last week on campus to wrestle piles of notes into a paper that will be his senior thesis. It examines “queer” issues in Russia. Ontiberos spent a semester there, immersed in Russian culture while living with a grandmotherly host in Moscow. There, diversity in sexual orientation isn’t welcomed, he said.
When Ontiberos left his California home for Carlisle in 2007, he didn’t have experience with being excluded because of his attire or club affiliations.
“I wasn’t out. When I came here, I just decided to start fresh. I decided to come out and live my life,” he said.
Like most other male freshmen, he moved into a men-only floor in a dormitory. Ontiberos was uncomfortable sharing a bathroom with straight men. His resident assistant converted an unused women’s bathroom to a gender-neutral restroom. Ontiberos was the only man who used it that year, he said.
A survey of 1,700 LGBT student and faculty conducted in 2003 by Penn State professor Susan Rankin found that their contributions and concerns often aren’t ignored. More than a third of students and nearly 20 percent of LGBT professors surveyed reported they’d been harassed.
Harassment mostly took the form of derogatory remarks primarily made by students, the survey found. Just over half hid their sexual orientation to avoid intimidation, and more than a fifth reported fearing for their physical safety.
Unisex bathrooms are just one of numerous solutions sought by LGBT advocates.
According to a checklist put out by the Web-based Transgender Law and Policy Institute, expanding student health insurance to cover services for students undergoing hormone treatment or gender surgery can be critical. A few schools — none in the state — cover hormones and surgery follow-up through student health insurance.
Dickinson College formed a LGBT task force that’s weighing changes. The school hasn’t done an assessment, but it has championed gender-identity equity in the past. Officials say Dickinson was one of the first U.S. colleges to offer health benefits to partners in same-sex couples.
Ontiberos and other students want more policy revisions. This year, the student senate, of which Ontiberos is a member, proposed gender-neutral dorms.
“We are working with senate leadership to advance it,” college spokeswoman Christine Dugan said.
Ontiberos said the school has a ways to go to eliminate prejudice.
“People throw around the word ‘faggot’ a lot. I’ve had friends who’ve been directly harassed about their orientation,” Ontiberos said.
“I do honestly believe officials and different groups do want to work to make the campus better. At the same time, there is a big clash with the campus culture,” he said.
6) Gender Neutral MSU holds information sessions
At an informational meeting on Tuesday, students asked representatives from Gender Neutral MSU for details about the proposed gender-neutral housing option at MSU.
The meeting was the first of six intended to educate the MSU community about a proposed policy allowing students to live with one another regardless of gender affiliation. Informational sessions will be held throughout the next few weeks for students, faculty and staff who want to learn more about the proposed policy.
Students questioned some logistics of the program, including where gender-neutral housing options might be available and which dorms might have the option.
A gender-neutral housing program initially would be implemented on existing co-ed floors, co-chair of Gender Neutral MSU Nick Pfost said. This might make the proposed policy “more palatable to some of the administration and the alumni” because it will be put in place where students of different genders already interact on a regular basis, he added.
Representatives addressed potential concerns community members might have about students in relationships living together and the possibility of sexual and domestic violence.
Common myths about a new housing policy also were addressed, including how this option would affect students who don’t want to live in gender-neutral housing.
“It’s simply one option on a list of others,” co-chair Rachel Skylis said.
“There’s no reason why anyone would ever be forced to do it.”
Maintaining single-sex living options is important to make all students on campus feel comfortable, Pfost said.
Maintaining single-sex living options is important to make all students on campus feel comfortable, Pfost said.
Members of Gender Neutral MSU also discussed a possible pilot program they are hoping to implement in fall 2012. Although they haven’t received formal word from President Lou Anna K. Simon at this point, members hope she will respond by the end of the semester, Pfost said. Ultimately, the decision to provide gender-neutral housing options for students is up to the administration, he added.
After the informational session, attendees were asked to complete an evaluation form rating the meeting. Members will use the feedback to tailor upcoming sessions to better meet students’ needs, said Ian Morrison, a Student Gender Neutral Housing Coalition member.
Currently, some students and community members have misconceptions about the program that might be clarified during the informational sessions, said Dylan Evans, an Arabic freshman who attended the meeting.
“I think more people would support it if they actually knew more about what the program was,” he said.
Sessions will be held in each of the campus neighborhoods in the upcoming two weeks. The next informational session will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday in Room 133 Akers Hall.
_For more information and other upcoming dates, visit the Gender
Neutral MSU Facebook page. _
Neutral MSU Facebook page. _
7) Campus reflects six months after Clementi death
By Colleen Roache and Devin Sikorski
In the six months since the death of Tyler Clementi, students at the University experienced the effects of tragedy firsthand. Still, some students find that coping also means moving forward.
Clementi committed suicide in September by jumping from the George Washington Bridge days after his roommate allegedly used a webcam to view his involvement in an intimate encounter with another male.
Enrico Cabredo, a classmate of Clementi's who resides in Davidson C on Busch campus, where Clementi also lived, said dealing with the tragedy alongside other students in the residence hall created a bond between them.
"As tragic as Tyler's suicide was, it made us really close, and I've made some of the best friends of my entire life," said Cabredo, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student. "[Prior to Clementi's death,] nobody had [regarded] that hall as sort of a family. [We were] a group of young people who had never had this happen before."
Classmate Dan Conroy also said Clementi's death, although tragic, helped launch a needed conversation about accepting others' differences.
"It was a tragedy, but from that was a crucial reminder that tolerance is an important thing," Conroy said, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student.
Ellie Mageros, also a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, said talking with her mother about the tragedy helped her cope.
"I felt for him and for his family," she said.
Anthony D'Augelli, professor and associate dean for undergraduate studies and outreach at Penn State University – an institution comparable in size to the University – began researching lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in the mid-1980s.
He said these issues are becoming more significant following an event like Clementi's death.
"It sometimes takes instances like this and Matthew Shepard to get people's attention," he said. "But that doesn't mean if you were to pay attention, you wouldn't find that these things have been going on for some time."
People will tend to mobilize soon after and voice their concerns over society's lack of acceptance of the LGBT community, D'Augelli said.
"Once that dissipates, people may forget that the issues raised by that particular circumstance don't go away," he said. "Harassment even now is higher and their concerns about how they'll be treated is higher."
In his research, D'Augelli found gay or lesbian individuals who "come out" either to their friends or family face rejection and can lead to an increased chance of a suicide attempt. He added this is only furthered by the use of social networks.
"It can go much quicker these days with all the technologies that allow people to spread rumors or tell stories," he said. "Once it starts moving beyond your immediate, very close friends, it spreads rapidly and is very difficult to control."
D'Augelli said the decision to "come out" develops over time and only happens because a person feels they are at a point in life where they can.
"For people who end up coming out, it is ultimately very hard to go back. Once you're out of this closet, you're out," he said.
Ridgewood residents Joe and Jane Clementi, Tyler Clementi's parents, are in the process of creating a charitable foundation, The Tyler Clementi Foundation, in honor of their son.
"We would like to help make something positive from Tyler's tragedy and ours," they said in a statement.
With coverage of Clementi's suicide spreading across the nation and overseas, many outside the University shared Mageros' sentiment, including those at Point Foundation, an organization that provides support for students who identify with the LGBT community.
Jorge Valencia, Point Foundation executive director and CEO, said a desire to keep Clementi's memory alive motivated the organization to establish the Tyler Clementi Point Scholarship.
"You want to make sure that [he] is not forgotten," Valencia said. "When we heard of Tyler's death, we were very proud and supportive of organizations that stepped up to raise even more awareness about what many of us in the community have known for many years."
The four-year award, which amounts to $25,000 per year, encompasses scholastic support, leadership training and mentorship in an effort to perpetuate its mission of educating a generation of leaders who can impact the LGBT community and society as a whole, Valencia said.
"What we wanted to do at the Point Foundation is see how we can keep that conversation of bullying and its consequences out there, and more importantly, to memorialize a young person whose potential none of us will ever really know," he said.
Although some criticized the University for its handling of the tragedy, Valencia said it moved in the right direction in the period thereafter.
"I commend institutions, including [Rutgers], for taking the steps necessary to make sure that … we avoid things like this in the future," he said.
Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization advocating the creation of an LGBT-friendly environment, assessed the environment at hundreds of colleges and universities in 2009 with its Campus Climate Index.
"Nearly a quarter of gay and lesbian students experience harassment on their campus," said Executive Director Shane Windmeyer. "The Campus Climate Index looks at policies, programs and practices a campus has that is LGBT inclusive."
Campus Pride awarded the University with a four out of five in the Campus Climate Index, releasing their findings a week before Clementi's death.
"Rutgers has for a long time had a history of LGBT programs," Windmeyer said. "Rutgers should have worked on these issues instead of waiting for a tragedy to happen."
University spokesman E.J. Miranda said the administration's intent is to create a more open atmosphere for students of all sexual orientations on campus.
"We are encouraging greater discussion and implementation of living-learning environments in which LGBT students can feel more accepted, including the creation of new special interest gender-neutral housing," Miranda said via email.
Although planning for such housing arrangements — available next semester in the Demarest, Rockoff and New Gibbons residence halls — were in place prior to Clementi's death, some students on campus feel they could go a long way toward fostering a more positive community.
"In the end, it will prevail," said Conroy, a Demarest Hall resident. "Hopefully, it will spread to other dorms."
In addition to changes to housing arrangements, the University worked to enhance suicide prevention training for mental health staff members, Miranda said.
The measures a university takes to accommodate the LGBT community to help solve these issues are significant, because many gay or lesbian students see college as an accepting place to express their sexual identity and "come out," D'Augelli said.
"For what you might consider non-traditional sexual identity, it's a much more important transition because many of them have been keeping this inside," he said.
D'Augelli said there are many classes here at the University for a student to learn about the LGBT community, commending the University's introduction of a minor about gay and lesbian studies.
"People should take the minor and learn about these things while having more things available on campus for people to attend," he said. "The answer is in front and everybody should be involved."
By providing educational programs and LGBT-centered events, students could personally interact with their gay or lesbian peers in order to break socially constructed barriers — an area D'Augelli said still requires much more work.
"[Students] should go to events and be around people who are either gay or lesbian and see they are just like them," D'Augelli said. "It's the personal contact that really breaks down the barriers and makes you realize how silly some are."
The University looks to facilitate such interaction and understanding through the implementation of new student orientation programs that re-emphasize information, scenarios and discussions about diversity, bullying and civility, Miranda said.
But while these programs may help foster a more open environment in the period after Clementi's death, University officials stress that the tragedy was not necessarily the cause for its focus on courtesy on campus, Miranda said.
"It's important to note that some of the most exciting recent collaborations had been in the making since early last year," he said.
The University in November hosted the annual statewide conference of the New Jersey chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, where several hundred LGBT high school students spent the day interacting with LGBT students at the University, he said.
The Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities is working with University departments to explore new steps to meet the evolving needs of LGBT students on campus, Miranda said. Various groups across the University also expressed support of such efforts.
In the last three years, the University has seen a more than fourfold increase in LGBT programs it offers annually, he said. Program attendance has also risen from a few hundred in 2008 to more than 2,400 in the fall of 2010.
"There have also been a steadily growing number of requests from departments and students to receive additional training on LGBT issues," he said.
The University also spearheaded programs on campus, including a workshop for Residence Life staff and a discussion on the proper use of new technologies, he said. The University also held a town hall meeting on how the institution can foster respect for the individual while protecting diversity and free expression.
Although the University seeks to make improvements, a spirit of tolerance has long been a priority on campus, Miranda said.
"Rutgers has a long and rich history of supporting LGBT students on campus, dating back to the founding of the Homophile League in 1969, the second oldest gay student group in the country," he said.
8) Marquette University to offer domestic partner benefits
By Sharif Durhams and Don Walker March 24, 2011
Marquette University plans to start offering domestic partner benefits to its employees in 2012, a move that comes about a year after the university's decision to rescind a job offer to a lesbian candidate caused the campus to erupt in debate.
In a statement sent to the campus Thursday afternoon, Marquette President Robert A. Wild said he's been wrestling with an idea of offering the benefits that would provide services for gay and lesbian employees for years.
University officials note said the timing of the announcement was influenced by votes in recent weeks by the University Academic Senate and the Marquette University Student Government that have urged the university to offer benefits for domestic partners.
“If we are truly pastoral in our application of the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, I asked myself if I could reconcile that with denying health benefits to a couple who have legally registered their commitment to each other,” Wild said. In Latin, cura personalis means "care for the entire person."
Wild noted that the State of Wisconsin gives legal recognition both to marriage for heterosexual couples and to a registered domestic partnership for same-sex couples.
Officials said they're still working out details, but medical, dental and vision benefits currently offered to married couples and their dependents will be extended to registered domestic partners. The couples receiving the benefits must share a residence, must be of the same sex. The declaration of domestic partnership may be initiated by an application filed with the clerk of the county in which an individual resides.
The decision by Marquette comes nearly after a year after the school announced that it was rescinding a job offer to Jodi O'Brien, a lesbian scholar at Seattle University, involving concerns relating to Marquette's "Catholic mission and identity" and their incompatibility with some of O'Brien's scholarly writings.
The university said at the time that the decision to rescind the job offer did not have anything to do with O'Brien's sexual orientation.
The university has a Statement on Human Dignity and Diversity. It reads in part that Marquette "recognizes and cherishes the dignity of each individual regardless of age, culture, faith, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, disability or social class." The statement adds that the Jesuit-run school seeks to become a more diverse and inclusive academic community dedicated to the promotion of justice.
After Marquette and Wild announced the decision, dozens of faculty members at both Marquette and Seattle condemned Marquette's decision to rescind the offer to O'Brien to take over as dean of the school's College of Arts and Sciences.
In June of last year, the school announced that it had reached a "mutually acceptable resolution" with O'Brien. Marquette said it had apologized to O'Brien, and sources said the school took a “financial hit.”
School officials said at the time that the university would consider research projects, conferences, courses and service learning projects exploring the topics of Catholic identity and gender and sexuality issues.
It could not be immediately determined if the decision to offer domestic benefits was related to the settlement of the O'Brien matter.
Last March, before the incident involving O'Brien, Wild announced he would step down in June 2011after about 15 years at the helm of Marquette. He said he had discussed his decision with trustees, including Rev. Scott Pilarz, Marquette’s incoming president.
