In response to a request last fall from the President's Committee on Lesbian/ Gay/Bisexual Concerns, President Bill Chace has announced the change of the committee to commission status.
The change, which takes effect immediately, gives the new President's Commission on Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Concerns (LGB Commission) standing equivalent to the President's Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) and the President's Commission on the Status of Minorities (PCSM), established in 1976 and 1979, respectively.
The LGB Committee was established by former President James T. Laney in spring 1992, largely in response to concerns raised by LGB faculty, staff and students after an incident involving the alleged harassment of two male freshmen in a residence hall the previous fall. Laney charged the committee with formulating a list of recommendations to address the concerns raised by Emory's LGB community. One of the primary recommendations, that sexual orientation be added as a protected category in Emory's Equal Opportunity Statement, was adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1993.
Alan Cienki, assistant professor of Russian studies and a current committee co-chair, and Pamela Hall, associate professor of philosophy and a former co-chair, outlined the group's rationale for requesting commission status last fall in a letter to Chace.
"The interests of lesbian, gay and bisexual persons, as a distinct group, are not represented systematically by either of the standing Commissions," they wrote. "While the [PCSW] and [PCSM] should certainly address the needs of their LGB constituents, it is the job of neither Commission to pursue primarily those needs. It would be the task of the proposed Commission to address the needs and concerns of LGB persons as LGB persons. In doing so, the Commission regards its work as a necessary complement to that of the existing Commissions; it would work, in conjunction with the other Commissions, to represent more fully members of the Emory community in all their diversity."
Other reasons for the shift to Commission status cited in the letter include: the absence of an established group charged with considering proposed institutional and curricular changes that will have an impact on LGB community members and in which they have a unique interest; the ability to regularize membership, clearly define terms of service and maintain group continuity and stability; and the availability of an annual budget for routine expenditures as well as event sponsorship.
"I believe this change responds appropriately to the issues brought forward by the committee," said Chace, "and I am persuaded that my administrative colleagues and I will thus be able to recognize and understand more clearly the areas of concern expressed by lesbian, gay and bisexual people."
--Dan Treadaway