Winter update

It's been a long time since I posted. I never did get my Examiner clips up, but I may still do that for a few of them. As of now I'm half-way through my time as editor-in-chief of The Collegian, Hillsdale College's student newspaper.

Here's a story from the semester. It was a tricky one.

Sept. 23, 2010

Homosexuality on campus prompts policy

Administration on intimacy: “between the sexes, in marriage”

By Liz Essley
Editor-in-Chief
The Collegian

A warm April day in Hillsdale, 2010. Two students lay on the quad, one's head resting on the other's stomach. The two were a couple. The two were also men.

Complaints from other students swirled up to the dean of men's office. This was Hillsdale, one of the most conservative schools in the nation. Why were gay men displaying affection in public? What would Hillsdale do about it?

What would Hillsdale do about it? The episode was not the first to provoke that question.

This summer, the administration decided to answer, writing a document that spells out Hillsdale's beliefs about sexual intimacy and the policy designed to guide its decisions regarding that issue.

The guidelines

The guidelines, approved by the board of trustees and dated July 2010, were announced to the faculty at the pre-opening conference Aug. 27 and were posted on the college's website Sept. 2.

The guidelines document states that the college believes sexual intimacy belongs "in marriage and between the sexes." It states that the college cannot support "organizations or activities that contravene this commitment." It also states that the college welcomes all to thoughtful inquiry who are "willing to work in [a] collegial context."

"The document is a guideline for policies and applies primarily to student affairs. It is meant to articulate a long-standing belief of the college," Associate Provost David Whalen said.

Whalen said the document does not demand agreement from students and that the college was "not looking to antagonize" anyone.

"Questions arose about this, and we wanted some consistent way to address them," President Larry Arnn said.

Though most students remain unaware the document exists, some are already dissenting.

"I respect the fact that as Hillsdale they don't accept government money and they can do as they like... but at the same time I think it's an insult to free inquiry at Hillsdale," former student Ben Crane, who is gay, said.

Gay students interviewed said they knew between eight to 12 gay students, either in or out of the closet, on Hillsdale's campus. They said more had graduated and more may be unknown to them.

Others disagreed with the document because they saw it as an attempt to ban clubs such as the Gay Straight Alliance, which a group of students tried to start in spring 2009.

"From what I've gathered there a lot of gay students at Hillsdale who aren't out of the closet, and this [GSA] would benefit them," senior Christina Stephens, who is lesbian, said. "[The administration] preaches a free-learning environment, but preventing programs like these is detrimental to that."

Professor of Philosophy Donald Turner, though he agrees with the most of the document, believes the college should allow the formation of organizations opposed to the college's mission as long as they are not disruptive.

The discussion

Administrators said they created the document to respond to a national climate increasingly hos-tile to the college's ideas about sexuality, and also to respond to ongoing questions from students.

The school's conversation about homosexuality was jump-started in November 2007, when then-freshman Joel Pavelski (now The Collegian's Vibe editor) published an editorial in which he mentioned he was gay and challenged students to value unity over uniformity.

The discussion moved to the forefront again in fall of 2008, when Jake Morgan '10 published a series of opinions articles in the The Collegian in which he supported gay sexual activity. Morgan and some friends attempted to form a Gay Straight Alliance in spring of 2009, but after months of wrangling with club technicalities, the effort fell flat.

The spring of 2010 saw the issue circulate again when then-freshman Crane and Pavelski changed their relationship status on Facebook to "engaged."

People talked.

"No one looked at me twice when it was just me being gay at Hillsdale. Everyone was like, ‘Fine, do whatever you want'.... But as soon as I started dating Ben … people freaked out," Pavelski said.

Pavelski and Crane were planning to use the college's policy on married couples to allow Crane to move off campus. Under the new guidelines, they would not have been able to do that.

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said the "ongoing student discussion" over the issue compelled the administration to take it up. He included in the "discussion" Morgan's Collegian opinions, stu-dent complaints about gay public affection and the Facebook engagement announcement.

Fear about pressure from outside organizations also motivated the administration to create the document, Whalen said.

Homosexual in Hillsdale

Homosexuality remains shrouded at Hillsdale. That gay people attend Hillsdale surprises some. Students agree that most people don't know the school has homosexual students.

Gay students interviewed said they came to Hillsdale despite its conservative atmosphere because they leaned libertarian or because they valued the intellectual development Hillsdale could offer.

They said being openly gay at Hillsdale means getting cold shoulders from some, but acceptance from others.

"I think that largely Hillsdale College is split right down the middle," Pavelski said. "There's a huge camp of people who are here because they are conservative Christians ... those people, I think, walk to the other side of the sidewalk when I walk by, don't make eye contact and do what every good Republican does and just ignore it. But I think the other half of campus deals with people on an individual level ... I think that portion of campus sees me as Joel before they see me as being gay."

Students said they had experienced little to no discrimination, with exceptions. Drunken students made anti-gay comments to Crane on a couple occasions. Students approached Stephens and told her to change her lifestyle. Pavelski said two members of the administration attempted to prevent him from joining the Dow Journalism Program because of his views on sexuality.

But on a daily basis, gay students said they experience civility.

"It's not that difficult. I've never been spoken down to, which is nice. I don't feel persecuted or anything," junior Nick Pisano, who is gay, said.

Stephens said she found her friends supportive and her professors accepting.

"There is definitely some hostility. There is also some acceptance. It depends on the individual," she said.

Pisano said he likes being at Hillsdale partly because he likes adding diversity.

"It's a goal to prepare students for the modern world," he said. "If they're too isolated, or if they see [homosexuals] as an abomination or walking sin, they won't be able to deal with them in their day-to-day lives. That's why I'm here."

Gay students interviewed all disagreed with the document on varying points.

Crane saw the document as coming from a college that is drifting from a more libertarian and open attitude to a more Christian and dogmatic one.

"Essentially they want to make it the Bob Jones of the West," he said.

Pisano said he thought the new guidelines would push gay students away from Hillsdale.

"I think 10 years down the road, the chance of gay people coming here will go down. And I think that's what the administration wants. It will make the donors and certain people on campus more comfortable," Pisano said.

Pavelski agreed the college had changed.

"Not only do I think Hillsdale was a different place when I came here, but it actually was," he said. "The establishment wasn't on the defensive, and because they weren't on the defensive, they were more open."