News
2006-03-11
Minnesota college
bars gay couples from staying together on school trips
A disagreement
over a University of St. Thomas policy that bars unmarried
couples from staying together on schoo
A disagreement
over a University of St. Thomas policy that bars unmarried
couples from staying together on school trips has grown
beyond a simple debate about the rule. Staff members
and some students at the St. Paul, Minn., school are
now wearing black-and-red anti-"UST discrimination"
buttons as well as buttons that symbolize support for
a gay student group.
More than 130 faculty members signed a letter
opposing the policy, and a dozen faculty members
showed their displeasure by skipping an event where
they were to be honored.
The snafu has intensified into a larger debate
about tolerance at Catholic universities. Like many of
them, St. Thomas has balanced its Catholicism with a
desire to be open. It recognizes a gay and lesbian
campus group, for instance, though members say their group
has restrictions on activities that others do not.
"Things are incredibly tense here," said David
Landry, a theology professor who signed the letter.
The unwritten trips policy was imposed last year
after a lesbian choir director wanted to take her
partner on a school trip to France. St. Thomas said
that was inappropriate. The issue surfaced again in November
when two longtime professors who have been a couple for more
than a decade were asked to rent separate rooms on a
student trip to Australia.
University officials acknowledge the travel
policy was unclear and are working on a more detailed
rule, and they are planning several forums at which
the university president, the Reverend Dennis Dease, will
listen to concerns. But they're also defending the
decisions, arguing that St. Thomas must model Catholic
values in interactions with students.
"We believe in diversity of people and ideas,"
school spokesman Doug Hennes said. "At the same time,
we need to balance that with being a Catholic
university. That can create tension and can create
issues such as this one."
Landry plans to offer resolutions at a faculty
senate meeting Tuesday regarding the travel policy and
concerns about the climate for gays and lesbians on campus.
"I think there's at least some indications that
the university is moving in a more conservative
direction, and that might be part of a broader trend
within Catholicism," he said. "A lot of people who
have been here for quite some time and are not Catholic, or
support a more progressive form of Catholicism, are concerned."
On the other side of the argument is Robert
Kennedy, professor and chairman of the Catholic
studies department. "No Catholic university could
properly endorse or plead indifference to unmarried partners
sharing a room," he said. "It's reasonable to expect faculty
at a Catholic university to meet certain expectations."
Sleeping arrangements for gay and unmarried
professors on trips with students had not been an
issue until last year, when several students raised
concerns about the choral director bringing her lesbian
partner. (AP)
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