Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 07:27:28 -0500 (EST) From: David Casti Subject: ACTION ALERT: Trouble At Notre Dame G.L/B NGLTF Campus Project ACTION ALERT Members of Gays and Lesbians of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College (GLND/SMC) have been told by the Notre Dame administration that they can no longer meet at the school. University officials confirmed that the group was told last month that they may no longer use the room in the University Counseling Center in which they have held meetings for the past nine years. LGB students at Notre Dame urge you to take a few minutes to write or call the university representatives listed below to express your concern. Especially helpful are messages from Notre Dame alums and faculty from "peer" institutions, so please pass the word. The following resolution was adopted last week by Notre Dame's Graduate Student Council. Feel free to use excerpts from the resolution in developing your own letter. Graduate Student Council University of Notre Dame RESOLUTION (adopted 2.1.95) WHEREAS, since 1984, Gays and Lesbians of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College (GLND/SMC) has demonstrated itself to be a valuable presence at Notre Dame, offering support, educational and social opportunities to the underserved population of lesbian, gay and bisexual students, faculty and staff; WHEREAS during the current academic year alone, GLND/SMC has enriched the intellectual life of the entire campus by playing a central role in bringing to Notre Dame a number of prominent speakers, including Philadelphia screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, civil rights attorney Peter Cicchino, and New Republic Editor Andrew Sullivan; WHEREAS officers of GLND/SMC have continually sought to work with the Office of Student Affairs to address the needs of lesbian, gay and bisexual undergraduate and graduate students; WHEREAS GLND/SMC has, beginning in 1985, repeatedly sought to register as a campus group and, just as often, has summarily been denied recognition; WHEREAS GLND/SMC has been allowed to meet in the University Counseling Center since 1986 and has used this privilege responsibly; WHEREAS on January 23rd, 1995, GLND/SMC was barred by the Office of Student Affairs from further use of the University Counseling Center; WHEREAS there are no other organizations or departments explicitly and sensitively targeting the needs of Notre Dame's lesbian, gay, and bisexual students; WHEREAS the Graduate Student Union has explicitly supported the recognition of GLND/SMC and requested the addition of sexual orientation to the University Non-Discrimination Policy; BE IT RESOLVED that we strongly condemn the university's action to expel GLND/SMC from campus and once again call upon the university to recognize GLND/SMC as an integral part of the Notre Dame community deserving of all rights and privileges afforded other campus groups, including the right to meet on campus. CONTACT LIST Student Newspaper: The Observer P.O. Box Q Notre Dame, IN 46556 219.631.7471 219.631.6927 fax observer.viewpoint.1@nd.edu Key Decision-makers: Rev. Edward A. Malloy President University of Notre Dame 301 Main Building Notre Dame, IN 46556 219.631.6755 Ms. Patricia A. O'Hara Vice-President for Student Affairs University of Notre Dame 315 Main Building Notre Dame, IN 46556 219.631.7394 If possible, lease send a carbon of correspondence (blind or otherwise) to GLND/SMC for its archives: GLND/SMC P. O. Box 194 Notre Dame, IN 46556-0194 219.287.6665 e-mail contact blandford.2@nd.edu