| Emory Report | Volume 52, No. 31 |
University Governance: President's Commission on Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender concerns The LGBT devoted much of its April 12 meeting at the Carlos Museum to membership discussions. The commission filled the four open student positions, one administration spot (two faculty and two staff representatives renewed their membership) and several at-large positions for the 2000-01 academic year. Co-chair Frank Maddox announced that he would be on sabbatical starting in spring 2001 and would not be able to complete his two-year term. Maddox said he would seek a candidate to step in and take over his commission seat starting this fall. Maddox said he wanted to remain an active member, and the commission invited him to remain. The commission voted to amend its by-laws, changing the leadership structure from two co-chairs (the current format) to a chair/chair-elect setup starting in the fall. This matches the organization of the other President's Commissions. Jennifer Gossett, the current co-chair (along with Maddox), will ascend to the chair position. A chair-elect will be chosen at the commission's first fall meeting. A stipulation was added stating that should a student be chosen to serve as either the chair or chair-elect, his or her membership on the commission would be extended to two years (student positions normally run one year; all other memberships are two-year terms). Saralynn Chestnut announced that Emory had been invited to participate in a survey measuring campus diversity conducted by Susan Rankin, a researcher at Penn State. Emory would be one of 30 universities around the country where 3,000 students, faculty and staff would be polled concerning the institution's climate regarding underrepresented groups (LGBT, non-native English speakers, people with disabilities and minorities are some examples). The administrative costs for the survey would be $3,000. The commission decided to approach the other two President's Commissions about jointly covering these costs, since the survey results could be beneficial to all involved. The final LGBT meeting of the academic year will be Tuesday, May 2. -Eric Rangus Return to May 1, 2000 contents page
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