Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 18:31:04 -0500 (CDT)
From: "....DREALM...." <grantham@knuth.mtsu.edu>
Subject: Xenogeny Article (archive)

By Michael Grantham

	On June 13, 1995, Middle Tennessee State University Lambda 
Association formed the Uniform Equality Committee. The purpose is to 
reveiw the campus nondiscrimination policy and assess the need for the 
inclusion of "sexual orientation."
	Since June, the committee has gained some very valuable resources 
through its reasearch and assessment. Most of the materials were 
retreived through internet resources with the help of Curtis Shepard of 
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
	In preparation for a long road ahead, the committee has placed a 
number of documents on reserve in Todd Library on the campus of MTSU, 
prepared pamphlets explaining the myths and facts involved with the 
issue, and has created a webpage for the group in which the UEC's 
research efforts can be accessed.
	As school began, the committee worked quickly to shore up support 
from key professors and introduced a resolution calling for the inclusion 
of sexual orientation into the nondiscrimination policy to the Faculty 
Senate.
	With a vote of support, the UEC began to focus on individual 
campus organization support and has been joined now with 13 groups 
including the Honors Student Association, Panhellenic Council, and the 
Wesley Foundation - a campus Methodist Outreach group.
	The UEC has also created a number of postcards to send individual 
messages of support to President James Walker's office to remind him 
everyday of the growing support for this resolution.
	In the midst of racial tension on campus, the Vice President of 
Student Affairs, Robert LaLance, made a statement in a September 28 
letter to the editor of SIDELINES, a campus student paper at MTSU, 
saying, "That we are a University family comprised of many people from 
various cultures and backgrounds is an ongoing cause for celebration...A 
university that is on the move toward world-class stature must respect 
and celebrate the differences that make us strong."
	LaLance's quote was encouraging and the UEC made the paper the 
following week. LaLance was then quoted in reference to the UEC 
resolution as saying, "I think the possibilities 
run a gamut of [university life] being enhanced in the eyes of some and 
being tarnished in the eyes of some."
	He went on to add, "All the other [distinctions] included in our 
statement are pursuant to federal laws or presidential edict, and sexual 
orientation does not enjoy that status."
	LaLance further went on to say that he will bring the issue up to 
a December meeting of the Tennessee Board of Regents Student Affairs 
Subcouncil. 
	The TBR has already stated that such an enhacement of an 
institution's policy will be left up to its president. This is based off 
the fact that states recognize their rights to enhance policies of 
nondiscrimination beyond the minimum standards of the federal government, 
a point that LaLance seems to have overlooked.
	The reaction from the administration comes although the UEC has 
not made an official request to enhance the policy. The UEC is currently 
compiling a report and will be adding an appendix of personal testimony 
from individuals expressing the need for the inclusion of sexual orientation.
	A date for when the report will be published and issued to the 
President and general public has been estimated at the end of the year.
	The addition into MTSU policy will set a precedent within the 
state's university system, although Vanderbilt (a private school) has 
adopted this policy a couple of years ago.
	There are over 300 universities across the nation that have the 
policy that the UEC is requesting, and the documents that each have 
published in regard to this issue will no doubt demonstrate the need for 
the policy change at MTSU.
	If you would like more information, call the Lambda Infoline at 
(615)780-2293 or email the group at MTLAMBDA@frank.mtsu.edu. Our webpage 
is located at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtlambda
	Comments, advice, and messages of support are welcome and will be 
fowarded to President James Walker and published in an appendix within 
the report. Mail can be received at LAMBDA ASSOCIATION, MTSU BOX 624, 
Murfreesboro, TN 37132.


SO- there is you an article. You can say it was a press release from the 
Uniform Equality Committee. I am also the Chair, so you can mention my 
name if you wish, although it isn't very necessary. THANK YOU!

michael grantham