Loyola Faculty OKs Recognition of Gay Group

The Faculty Senate of Loyola Marymount University narrowly voted by secret ballot Thursday to recommend that University President James N. Loughran officially recognize an organization for gay and lesbian students, which is seeking formal club status at the Jesuit-operated Catholic campus.

By a 9-8 vote, the senate, an advisory group of 22 faculty members representing each of the university’s four colleges, voted to urge Loughran to recognize the Alliance of Gays and Lesbians, a newly formed group that has been meeting off-campus, said Linda Bannister, a member of the English department who co-sponsored the resolution. Five members of the senate were absent.

Bannister and co-sponsor Jeffrey Siker, an assistant professor of theology, argued that the club should be granted recognition “because it deals with the issue of human rights and (the university’s) commitment to free and open exchange of ideas,” Bannister said.

Siker called the discussion at the faculty meeting “congenial, even collegial. . . . Some members were concerned of even appearing to be discriminating against gay students at a liberal arts school.”

However, Siker said, other faculty members argued that approving such a group would go against the university’s principles and philosophy as a Catholic university.

A support group for gay law students, the Lesbian and Gay Student Union, was formed in the mid-1970s at Loyola Law School. Donald P. Merrifield, then university president, approved the group, saying it advocated human rights but did not promote a gay life style.

Siker said some faculty members said it would not be fair to set a different standard for the university’s undergraduate students.

The group seeking recognition includes about a dozen students, who began holding support meetings in the spring of 1989 in an off-campus apartment, said senior James Munselle, who is president of the group.

Munselle has retained attorney Gloria Allred, who sent a letter to Loughran on Wednesday urging him to recognize the group.

Campus policy for starting a new club requires the approval of the student affairs committee, which voted 9 to 2 last December to grant the club formal recognition. The group also has drafted a constitution, as required, which describes its goals as providing support for gays and lesbians on campus, promoting awareness and sensitivity to the gay community, and supporting human rights.

Loyola Marymount’s student senate voted 12 to 4 last week to approve a resolution urging Loughran to approve the club.

The final decision, however, is up to Loughran. University spokeswoman Leah Chester-Davis said Thursday that the president had yet to make a decision.

If the group is granted recognition, it would gain the right to hold meetings on campus, to advertise events and speakers in the campus newsletter, and would be eligible for funding through the controller’s office, according to policies outlined in the Loyola Marymount student handbook.