UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 26, Page 13
April 7, 1994
Symposium to present results of campus climate survey

     A project that began three years ago will culminate April 22 in a
national program, "Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals on Campus: A Symposium on
Campus Climate," to be held on the Wilmington campus.  The symposium will
feature 15 contributed papers, selected from proposals submitted by college
and university personnel from around the country, including Hunter College;
Columbia, Tufts, Rutgers and Ball State universities; and the universities
of Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania, among others.
     The keynote address on "Cultural Politics and Sexual Identity: Equal
Rights and Equal Protection" will be presented by William G. Tierney,
professor and senior scientist of the Center for the Study of Higher
Education at Pennsylvania State University. The author of five books, he
was chair of the Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concerns at Penn State that
conducted a survey on the campus climate for lesbian, gay and bisexual
people.
     Daryl Hellman, executive vice provost at Northeastern University, will
present an invited paper during the luncheon on "Setting a Campus Agenda."
His presentation will focus on the rapidly changing campus climate at a
large, private, urban university such as Northeastern, where the climate
for lesbians, gays and bisexuals has improved dramatically as a result of
recommendations for changes first formulated in 1992 by the President's
Commission on Diversity and Community.
     James Anderson, associate dean and professor, School of Communication,
Information and Library Studies and chairperson of the President's Select
Committee for Lesbian and Gay Concerns, and William Mayo, associate
professor of mechanics and materials science, College of Engineering, both
of Rutgers University, will present a paper on "Going to Court for
Life-Partner Benefits: Options When Your University Just Won't Budge."
     Also speaking will be Kenneth Sherrill, professor of political science
and chair of the Faculty Senate,Hunter College. He will discuss "Hunter
College's Diversity Requirement." Sherrill served as one of three faculty
members, and the only openly gay member, of Hunter College's Presidential
Commission on Campus Climate.
     One of the roundtable discussions at the symposium-"Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual, Transgender Resource Centers: How To Get One, How To Staff One
and What To Do with One Once You Get It"-is believed to be the first such
meeting ever held of university and college lesbian and gay resource
centers, and representatives are expected from across the country.
Conducting the discussion will be Curt Shepard, campus project director of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, D.C., and Beth
Zemski, coordinator of the newly established Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and
Transgender Program Office at the University of Minnesota.
     One of the April 22 symposium's purposes is to present the results of
a recently administered survey on the campus climate at the University of
Delaware for lesbian, gay and bisexual faculty, staff and graduate
students. At an organizational meeting of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Caucus
three years ago, Hilton Brown, Harriet T. Baily Professor of Art
Conservation, recommended defining the climate at Delaware before making
recommendations to the Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity.
     The survey was developed over the past three years by the members of
the caucus in order to attempt to quantify the degree of heterosexism and
homophobia that exist on the Newark campus. A number of individuals on the
Newark campus devoted many hours of their own time to work on the survey,
including Brown, who co-chairs the caucus; Kathryn Goldman, assistant
director of Housing and Residence Life and former co-chair of the caucus;
Cynthia Cummings, associate director of Housing and Residence Life and
current co-chair; and Deb Cohen and Kristie Miller, the former and current
coordinators of the Campus Diversity Unit for the lesbian, gay and bisexual
community at the University.
     The survey, administered and assessed by the Office of Institutional
Research, is modeled on one administered in 1988 at Rutgers University and
published in a booklet entitled "In Every Classroom: The Report of the
President's Select Committee for Lesbian and Gay Concerns."
     At the symposium, Margaret L. Andersen, vice provost, will present the
survey results.
     The symposium will close with a panel discussion of the lesbian/gay/
bisexual agenda for American colleges and universities, with moderators
Brown and Cummings, as well as the leaders of the roundtable discussions.
     Preregistration deadline for the symposium is April 8, and costs are
$35 for UD professionals, $15 for grad students, $5 for undergraduate
students and $45 for off-campus professionals. After April 8, late and
on-site registration for all, except undergraduate students, will be an
additional $5.
     For registration forms and information, call Gloria Davis at 831-8735.