The Chancellor's office did release Dr. Ronni Sanlo' s report on the experiences of LGBTQ individuals at UIS this morning. Her most poignant statement is:
"There are considerations with which campuses must deal as they determine what will be available at any given institution. The most critical, of course, is financial resources. Without
funding, institutions may not be able to provide the same types of opportunities found on
similar campuses in a system or in the country. While UIS is a vibrant, exciting institution as agreed by all with whom I met, it is also a small university with 4800 students and therefore with fewer resources available than its sister institutions in the University of Illinois system."
Last spring I was abruptly silenced by a well-placed Student Affairs administrator when I said that universities, UIS included, make decisions based on the bottom line. It seems that UIS takes the fiscal long view [Green Day reference may be applied if the reader wishes]; that is, stringing students along with promises under the auspices of "doing the right thing" until activist students either graduate or fail out, but issues with LGBTQ students in particular have now persisted across multiple classes of Capital Scholars. More explicit discussions of where the money comes from and how it is spent could lead to greater trust. How the university appears should not be of greater concern than the experiences of its members. The release of Dr. Sanlo's letter and the publication of the student response to the Chancellor's statement in the Journal last week is a start.
To weigh in with others on these issues and other issues, go here:
http://uisfictions.blogspot.com/2007/12/welcome.html
and read the thread of comments
[For the record: no, this is not my blog; I neither know whose it is, nor have I posted anything there, other than my vote of support, that I haven't already posted in kind here.]
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2 comments:
The LGBTQ presence IS very strong on campus. They did an excellent job of reaching out to the CAP freshmen I think. Very helpful, and excellent at maintaining a good relationship with both straight and LGBTQ students and keeping a good communication wire open through which to educate. Personally, I am straight, but I think I get just as much from the information and support they provide as an LGBTQ student. It helps me to be better informed, open-minded and to be an understanding and compassionate human being. (Can you believe a Southern Baptist just said THAT? Believe it, THAT JUST HAPPENED! {Shake and bake, courtesy of Talledega Nights})
I have known plenty of gay Southern Baptists.I'm pretty sure I got my hair done by one in South Carolina. In the mid 90s when the Southern Baptist Convention proclaimed officially that women couldn't be pastors, the Baptist church I had attended in my early 20s, along with a lot of others in Texas, became "Family" churches. I think the Convention has muted that stance somewhat.
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