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Reader comment on OUDaily.com ››
• Wednesday, March 7, 2012
“It is pretty standard for newspapers to endorse candidates. In the 2008 election, 88 college newspapers across the nation endorsed candidates. I applaud the Daily for taking the time to give such an opinion and for giving endorsements on both sides during this primary process..” (pike1892, RE: ‘EDITORIAL: Everyone — Republican, Democrat — should go vote today’)
OPINION
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BOREN
Time is now to approve gender-neutral housing DEAR PRESIDENT BOREN:
to send to your student body? To alumni? To the public? Regardless of your personal feelings or the prejuToday, you have a chance to make this university dices of Oklahoma lawmakers, there are GLBT safer for hundreds of students. You have a chance Sooners. They are just as worthy of acknowledgto support some of your most vulnerable students, ment, support and protection as any other stuto provide them with a comfortable and encouraging home environment so they may excel. You have dent. They are Oklahoma, too. And they need you, a chance to give students a reasonable, responsible President Boren, to fight for them. Who else will? When we pointed out the condition of speed choice in their housing arrangements. bumps and sidewalks near the dorms was putting Today, you will be presented with a proposal to adopt a gender-neutral housing option. And for the students at risk, you leapt quickly at the chance sake of all your students, and the essential mission of to improve student safety. In that case, it was an easy fix with no risk of negative consequences. this institution, you must support it. Unfortunately, that is not the case this time — but Gender-neutral housing would give the students this is a much more vital issue. at OU — adults who are legally and “But you are primarily Here is your opportunity to do logically capable of responsible decimuch more to improve the safety of sions — the option to live with those responsible for the they are most comfortable with. That safety, education and OU students in the places they call is all it will do. But that is a lot. success of the students home — the places they should be the most safe. Some students at OU would prefer you represent. That We understand you will face some to live with members of the oppointerest must always criticism due to this policy. And some site sex for a variety of reasons. But come before politics, of that criticism will come from peofor gay, lesbian, bisexual and transple who directly or indirectly control before money.” gender students, this is more than a OU’s monetary future. Since you have question of preference — it is a quesbeen friendly to logical and necessary student-led tion of safety. These students consistently face disinitiatives in the past, we assume your reluctance to comfort, discrimination and harassment. And it is act on this issue stems from fear of those criticisms happening here, at OU. and the negative effect they could have on OU’s fiEvery other student on this campus has access to nancial future. safe housing. In fact, that’s the primary responsiWe understand you’re responsible for ensuring bility of Housing & Food Services. This new option the health of this organization. But you are primarwould not be special treatment, but simply equal ily responsible for the safety, education and success treatment. of the students you represent. That interest must You will face those who argue that this option always come before politics, before money. And we would be immoral — that it would lead to rampant sexual activity, maybe even increased pregnancies. hope you see as clearly as we do that the opinions of those who oppose this policy are blatantly ignorant, Even ignoring the fact that the 54 other universities dangerous and wrong. (including Yale, your alma mater) that have such a There comes a time in any movement when somepolicy have seen no such increase, the sexual activity one has to stand up and make an unpopular deciof students is no business of the universities. That choice, like the choice of whom to room with, sion in order to do what is right. You and the Board of is best left up to students and their parents. And it is Regents are leaders in Oklahoma, and it is a leader’s responsibility to do the right thing, even when it unfair of anyone to expect the university to involve is not a popular choice. It is time for you to lead by itself in that. You also will face those who argue there is no place example. So, President Boren, if you care about the safety for such a thing in conservative Oklahoma. You’ve expressed similar sentiments yourself. But when you and prosperity of all your students, if you are willing to put those concerns over political concerns, and if say there is no place for gender-neutral housing at OU, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students you are ready to make OU a true leader in this region — this nation — in ways that matter, you must suphear that there is no place for them either. port this gender-neutral housing proposal and urge And with that argument, you are saying the conservative social values of your state have left you with the Board of Regents to adopt it. It is time. Your students are ready. Are you ready to your hands tied, powerless to act to change your unisupport them? versity for the better. Is that the message you want
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Lack of Teach-In coverage disappointing On Feb. 26, I hugged Diane Rehm, the great National Public Radio talk show host and Peabody-award winner. I own a copy of her biography. I know of her struggles with spasmodic dysphonia. I listen to her show every morning. So naturally, that embrace will go down as a defining moment in my life, thankfully captured by photograph. But that Monday was magical for more reasons than just that hug and for more people than just me. Earlier in the day, thousands flocked to Catlett Music Center’s Sharp Concert Hall for the Teach-In on the American Founding. Filled capacity mandated that a simulcast of the production be broadcast to other parts of campus. Granted, amazing speakers have come to campus before — Paul Krugman, Fareed Zakaria, Colin Powell to name just a few — but these past lecturers and dinners, taken in isolation, pale in comparison to Monday’s collection of the best scholars and teachers on the American Founding on one stage, on one day, for one purpose. The next day, I excitedly grabbed a copy of the The Daily — my excitement was fueled by my desire to read about the Teach-In and keep the front page, which I imagined would invariably have
pictures capturing the groundbreaking events of the day prior. I was disturbed to see that the Teach-In on the American Founding — which brought together such inspiring figures as Gordon Wood and David McCullough, which had four Pulitzer prizes represented, and which taught the lessons on our founding that must be taught for our democracy to survive — was side-barred on the front page to a story about rock climbing. A small segment on the side of the front page made only brief mention of what some called, “the greatest collection of scholars on the founding in the history of our university and state.” Now, giving credit where credit is due, the stud that graced the front page, Kevin Marlow, was my resident when I was a resident adviser in Couch Center. The guy is a really wonderful person, and his likeness deserves to be on the front page of any newspaper on any other day. And rock climbing is awesome, and the article was written wonderfully. But the day after the Teach-In? Really? Where was the coverage of the TeachIn? Why was the front page story about rock climbing instead of the mountainous task that our founders faced in
drafting the Constitution? That is a story that needs to be told, and it was told in many of the presentations that day. But these are ideas that must be spread, and we should be proud that our university champions such education. My disappointment really lies here: The Daily writes progressive ideas in the editorial and in other sections. It often pens about the furthering of individual rights, the changing of Oklahoma policies in the pursuit of equality or the calling for protections of minorities and disadvantaged citizens. And yet, when a syndicate of scholars comes to campus to teach about the history of these very principles, how they developed and why they are so important, there is hardly an article written. I think The Daily missed an opportunity at a defining moment for our university. For our generation to “fight for a future worthy of our past,” we must tell the stories of our constitutional heritage at every juncture, but especially after such a special event as the Teach-In. The sadness of opportunity lost is one that only an embrace from Diane Rehm can pacify. Clayton Dodds, political science and entrepreneurship senior.
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» Poll question of the day Should the university implement a gender-neutral housing policy? To cast your vote, log on to COLUMN
Too much at stake not to adopt housing proposal Editor’s note: Elizabeth Rucker is a member of Students for a Democratic Society, the group that wrote the gender-neutral proposal.
I
have dedicated a OPINION COLUMNIST newspaper’s worth of editorial space to describing the rationale for implementing gender-neutral housing. I also have worked on presentations and public fora to explain this idea Elizabeth Rucker to OU’s student body, wordful@ou.edu faculty and staff. Nearly a year ago, I helped organize and participated in a “sleep-in” for genderneutral housing, where more than 40 students occupied Crossroads over night. Today, the Gender-Neutral Housing Coalition, made up of Students for a Democratic Society, Student Organizer’s Collective, Friends and Friends, and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Friends, will rally outside the South Oval’s Unity Garden at noon and then marching to Evans Hall to present our proposal. I want to speak not as an activist or academic. Today I am writing to you — the student body — and to President David Boren as a friend and ally of my fellow students. Gender-neutral housing is not just a bullet point in a mythical gay agenda; it is a vital need for many Sooners. And I am writing for them, because not all of my friends feel safe enough to speak. The truth is there are dire consequences to, intentionally or not, maintaining an atmosphere of exclusion and “We know our discrimination, manifest in university does mandatory sex-segregated housing. not hate us, but than 50 universities we are frustrated of More every stripe — large, prithat too many vate, small, public, liberally administrators we or conservatively situated — have recognized this truth. have spoken with GLBTQI — or Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, will not do their duty and advocate Questioning and Intersexed — students deserve to have for us.” their needs met by housing — just as honors, National Merit and international students have different needs than other students. And like GLBTQI students, all students at this university are capable of choosing the living situation best suited to their needs. Because, when those needs are not met, tragedies occur. They may be everyday tragedies of uncomfortable silences, veiled innuendos and worry about putting your significant other’s picture on your desk. These may escalate to bullying and harassment, and I pray every day that OU does not have to learn the same lesson Rutgers University did when Tyler Clementi took his own life after enduring his roommate’s shocking homophobia. I do not want Norman to lose another young queer person like we did in 2010 when Zachary Harrington killed himself after that atrocious city council meeting. I do not want the world to lose another Jeanine Blanchette or Chantal Dubé. These names often are forgotten within the news cycle, but queer activists know the systems that compel young queer people to take their lives are deeply embedded. My friends all still are living, but many of them live with scars of bullying and failed plans. We know our university does not hate us, but we are frustrated that too many administrators we have spoken with will not do their duty and advocate for us. My fellow students and I are asking for something small but critical: a home. We ask simply that we not be forced to organize our lives around gender, when present definitions and policies do not fit us. Many of the straight students I have talked to over the years have also expressed that desire. We have asked quietly and behind closed doors for three years. Today, we approach our administration — you, President Boren — to request your support for our initiative to the Board of Regents. There is a lot at stake, but it is not just a question of funding, donors and politicking; for us, our emotional, mental and physical lives hang in the balance. Elizabeth Rucker is an international studies and interdisciplinary perspectives on the environment senior, and is a member of Students for a Democratic Society.
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