Faculty supports student petition

The grassroots movement to include sexual orientation in Boston College's nondiscrimination clause has earned the support of almost 200 faculty and staff members in the last week. Today and tomorrow, students will have the chance to vote on this clause in a referendum on the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) ballot. The leaders of this campaign wanted other voices to have a say, and the faculty responded overwhelmingly in favor.

"We've only had a very positive response," said Nick Salter, A&S '07, who helped spearhead this movement. "They have full-heartedly gone behind this."

On Feb. 18, supporters of the campaign began sending e-mails to faculty they thought would be in support of the amendment to the clause. The e-mail included a briefing of the movement and the referendum that will appear in the ballot.

"Several people have stepped up and gone out of their way," said Salter, mentioning that six department heads passed the e-mail on to their staff, and at least two priests suggested names of other Jesuits who would be interested.

"It is very encouraging to see that administrators are voicing their concern and support for this issue," said Mike Yaksich, director of GLBT issues and A&S '05. "This is another extension of the faculty supporting the students they see every day. They're part of the BC community, the family we get to know while we're not at home. They're playing their role as family members do in supporting each other."

Several faculty members cited the Jesuit principles of BC as the essential reason for this change.

"At this point in the campus, if people don't agree that it should be included, they will assume the message is being sent that it's OK to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation," said Stephen Pope, a theology professor who signed the endorsement. "From a Christian and a Catholic standpoint, we have to affirm the fundamental dignity of every human being."

Rev. John Howard, S.J., of the Honors Program, highlighted the issue of consistency within the University.

"There may well be legal issues from a secular standpoint, but that can't have the final say," he said. "If it's going to have the final say then we should change our religious rhetoric to reflect it, we should say our religious ideals are not the supreme ideals we're following."

The concept of Jesuit ideals is also the reasoning for some of the faculty who didn't endorse the referendum.

"BC should certainly retain the right to take scandalous, immoral, and disordered conduct, sexual or not, into account in determining whether to hire, admit, and retain employees and students," wrote Jorge Garcia, a philosophy professor, in an e-mail to The Heights. "For the University to surrender that right would be to abdicate responsibility."

Rev. James M. Weiss, theology professor and director of the Capstone Program, pointed out the balance he finds for this clause within the Catholic ideals.

"It might seem to condone same-sex relations which are contrary to Catholic teaching," Weiss wrote in an e-mail. "That is a weak argument, however. After all, BC provides benefits and equal opportunity for employees who openly violate Catholic morality on other grounds - divorced and remarried persons, for example. The Catholic bishops have actively demanded support, compassion, and understanding of the special situation of people attracted to the same sex. So it is inconsistent with BC's permissiveness on other grounds, and inconsistent with the Catholic bishops' mandate, to omit this phrase from our policy."

Faculty support has reinforced the campaign's momentum. Only a week earlier, 2,100 student signatures were garnered to put the referendum on the ballot.

"We're going to see huge student support," said Salter. "This is not a political issue, and most students understand this. This is not about left and right, it's about building unity."

This is a non-binding referendum, meaning the University does not have to make decision based on the results. Grace Simmons, president of the Undergraduate Government of BC and A&S '05, said proactive stances need to be taken should the referendum pass in favor of amending the clause.

"It's important for us to stay patient and proactive," she said. "It will be important for us to reconnect with the faculty members [that supported us] and ask them for advice, to talk to members of the Jesuit community and see what their thoughts are. We also need to keep students excited."

She encouraged students to vote regardless of their choices for candidates.

"I've talked to a lot of students who don't want to vote for either team, but people still need to vote for the referendum," said Simmons.

The referendum is the first screen of the ballot, followed by the choice for president/vice president, and then a third screen for the senate.

Katy O'Leary, Election Committee co-chair and A&S '06, said she is unsure of whether students can vote on the referendum without voting for UGBC officials.