Defending Inclusion

As the representatives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender alumni within the U.Va. Alumni Association, the Serpentine Society is aware that not all alumni will support the University’s laudable efforts to include its LGBT members as equal participants in the association’s affairs. The fact is, however, that we are here, and here we belong. We applaud the Alumni Association for creating a welcoming environment, both within and without the Grounds, for us and our families. It is perfectly reasonable to celebrate our achievements alongside our fellow alumni, both as members of the U.Va. family and as successful adults. It also is quite reasonable for us to expect that when we get married (or because of continuing prejudice in much of the U.S., get "married"), have children, attain professional and personal success, or otherwise, that the alumni magazine include our notices, as is the case for any other member.

However, a fellow alumna, Barbara Ellen Spencer of New Delhi, India, recently wrote that she saw such notices as "an insult to the core of society." We are disturbed that someone could become so exercised over the reporting of such mundane matters in the America of 2005. Though we always will defend the right of people to voice their opinion, we are saddened that a fellow graduate of Mr. Jefferson’s University would argue for censorship in the Class Notes section, effectively dismissing the validity of and erasing the existence of certain individual lives and accomplishments, but also shutting down any possible dialogue on the complex issue of the position of LGBT people in society simply by omitting another perspective.

Instead, we wish to remind Ms. Spencer of the words of Thomas Jefferson: "For here we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead. Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it." LGBT alumni, like all alumni, deserve equal and fair treatment. Simply silencing the voices of LGBT alumni, as Ms. Spencer suggests, is not only unjust, it hinders the productive dialogues through which we all may reach new understandings.
Douglas B. Chambers (Col ’83, Grad ’91, ’96)
Member, Serpentine Society Board of Directors
Hattiesburg, Miss.

Although we should all appreciate the rights given to us by the Constitution, of which free speech is certainly one, the notion that a same-gender couple would be lesser parents than the stereotypical "nuclear family" is preposterous, and, quite frankly, offensive to even those with a single-parent household (such as myself), whether by divorce, death, or whatever situation.
Christie L. Rears (Col ’97)
Brighton, Mass.

The men in question are indeed "new parents" and no doubt very proud, so by what editorial standard should the magazine have censored this submission? By law, U.Va. doesn’t discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation—why should the staff of the Alumni News?
Nick Geisinger (Com ’96)
Annandale, Va.

It’s strange that an adoption announcement by two men would be seen as an example of "pro-gay advocacy." There are marriage and birth announcements in newspapers and magazines all over the world every day; should these be taken as examples of "pro-heterosexual advocacy"? No; they are simply a result of people wanting to share their joy with the world. Rather than trying to be "progressive, politically correct and reflective of changing attitudes toward the family and marriage," it’s more likely that the alumni magazine merely received a notice of a family’s adoption and did what they would normally do—they printed it.
Jeff Slutzky (Col ’95, Law ’99)
New York, N.Y.

It seems that a fellow U.Va. alumna has noticed a "disturbing trend" in the magazine—one that acknowledges the gay community. You can imagine my shock and dismay to discover that such horrors exist in our own backyard! Where are our moral standards? How can we protect our children? I’ll tell you how—by promoting values of love, not hate. By recognizing that pure love takes many forms, and that it is always a wonderful gift. By realizing that "family" is defined by emotions, and simply because a person is gay, it doesn’t mean that he/she values family any less.

It is always a struggle, not knowing whether the next person you meet will hate you for who you love, but I never doubt the value or validity of my love for my partner. I have the same hopes, dreams and fears as straight people. Gay or straight, it all boils down to love. I suggest we all try to love more and hate less.
Kathryn Wilderotter (Col ’96)
Durham, N.C.

At first I was horrified by the juxtaposition of a letter condemning the Alumni News’ announcement of the birth of a gay couple’s first child, which was immediately followed by an article on the University’s reaction to the intolerance and hatred it witnessed this fall semester. I was particularly struck by President Casteen’s words: "There is no place for intolerance, for bigotry, for hatred—and the reason is that each of those behaviors or attitudes deprives others of the capacity to learn, to teach, to exercise the freedoms that universities are committed to."

Upon further reflection, however, my view changed. I’m very glad the editor printed that letter, and I’m glad it was followed by a demonstration of the University community’s real response to discrimination. It was very clear that the community of trust was upheld and strengthened, as the presence of such poison brought us all together to combat it. We were able to put ourselves in others’ shoes, to share the shame and indignation that such a thing would happen within our community, and to unite in defiance of it.
Amie T. Loyer (Engr ’99)
Nashville, Tenn.

If the editors of the magazine had any agenda like the one suggested by Ms. Spencer, it would have been extremely easy not to publish her letter. However, as members of the University family, the editors apparently learned that hiding something does not make it cease to exist.
Chris Fisher (Col ’00)
New York, N.Y.

We are blessed to have the research of U.Va.’s own Charlotte Patterson to help us better evaluate this issue. She has conducted empirical studies on children raised by gay or lesbian parents. Her studies show, as common sense would lead one to conclude, that "[n]ot a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children’s psychosocial growth." (www.apa.org/pi/parent.html).

Rather than attempt to impose prejudice into the debate, I believe a more healthy approach is to identify what we can all do to provide more loving, nurturing and supportive homes to every child.
Rod Davis (Col ’83)
Washington, D.C.

Until now I did not realize that the Alumni News was so influential in determining the "core values" of Western civilization. For the letter-writer, the announcement in the Class Notes section that a gay couple had adopted a baby signified that the Alumni News was now "pro-gay," P.C., "progressive," and its publication "an insult to the core of society: the family." Further, publication of same by the Alumni News was an endorsement of a "fringe" group of people (gays) that will negatively affect "the foundations of [our] society."

Oh really? On the next page and in other places of the same issue as this letter appeared, there was extensive coverage of a racial incident on the Grounds and the entire University’s strong and united reaction against such bigotry. Not to push the point too far, I noticed in the same issue (again, in that pernicious Class Notes section) that a gay couple announced their Canadian marriage, and that a New York City gay alumni group held a fundraiser.

Thank you, sincerely, for continuing to include everyone in the Alumni News.
Mark Chinitz (Col ’78)
New York, N.Y.

Barbara Ellen Spencer has every right to her opinion, particularly in the University’s alumni magazine. I was an openly gay undergraduate at U.Va. and shudder to remember what life was like there little more than a decade ago. It may seem like the end of Ms. Spencer’s world that a gay couple got the birth of their daughter listed in Alumni News. To me it seems more like a small portent that tolerance may one day bloom in Mr. Jefferson’s academical village. Like many gay alumni of fairly anti-gay campuses, my experiences at the University were quite mixed.
David R. Bobbitt (Col ’94)
Owings, Md.

I was disappointed that the Alumni News decided to publish the letter from Ms. Spencer. The Alumni Association has made great strides over the last few years to ensure that all Virginia alumni, including LGBT alumni and their families, feel supported and included by, among other things, inclusion of the marriage announcements of same-sex couples and other news re: gay families. Should the Alumni News editorial staff believe that it is appropriate to publish homophobic letters in the future, I would hope that they would disclaim the discriminatory sentiments contained in such letters as inconsistent with the inclusive mission of the Alumni Association.
Sharon McGowan (Col ’95)
Brooklyn, N.Y.

I learned many things at the University of Virginia, but cultural acceptance was not one of them. That came later in life once learned bigotries gave way to friendships with those with a different sexual preference. Keep those birth announcements coming.
C. Gant Redmon III (Col ’88)
Lexington, Mass.

As Mr. Jefferson himself wrote, each one of us has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As a student, I struggled with the conservative nature of campus life in the early 1990s, only to truly begin my pursuit of happiness after coming out post-graduation. My professional and personal lives have since flourished. I have a right to share these accomplishments, just as Mrs. Spencer has a right not to read them.
Carter Covington (Col ’95)
Los Angeles, Calif.

Recently a reader questioned your endorsing "with normalcy the actions of a fringe of people" in reference to a birth announcement. What other types of "new parents" announcements should the Alumni News ban? If we must conform to her concept of the core of society, I don’t dare imagine who else should not be announcing their happy news.

I am a married mother of two, living in wholesome Kansas and I applaud the Alumni News for printing any sort of birth announcement that an alumni sees fit to offer. Society is made up of many, many different types of citizens. The only environment that allows for growth and development in any person is an environment of love, understanding and intelligence. Why doubt that two men can create a loving home?
Amy Rosenberg Nemiccolo (Col ’95)
Olathe, Kan.

Please do not let anti-homosexual views influence the content of the magazine. Whether it’s religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, the freedom to be who you want is what originally set this country apart from all others, and I hope it continues. My wife and I are expecting a baby in a few months, and we do not think our homosexual friends should be denied that amazing opportunity.
Erik P. Deede (Col ’94)
Brookline, Mass.

Normally I enjoy reading Alumni News, but I was thoroughly displeased to see the recent letter to the editor in which an alumna complained about the magazine’s inclusion of class notes from gay alumni. I don’t understand why you, as editor, thought it necessary to broadcast her views to the alumni community. Diversity and tolerance are two values promoted by the University of Virginia; they should be promoted by the University’s alumni magazine as well. Publishing this letter did not do that.

Ironically, the disparaging letter appeared in the same issue as an item about a fundraiser earlier this fall in New York benefiting the University’s LGBT Resource Center and an agency for homeless queer youth. I was on the host committee for this benefit, and I thank you for mentioning it in the magazine.
Sean Kennedy (Col ’00)
Brooklyn, N.Y.

I find it hard to believe that the marking of important milestones by the Alumni News, an extension of courtesy and respect granted to all University alumni, could be conflated into "pro-gay advocacy." And while I doubt that any of us view life exclusively through a Jeffersonian prism, some less-than-obscure words of his seem to ring true in the case at hand: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

I would hope that my fellow alumni would join me in rejecting narrow-minded intolerance and in wishing only the very best for all our fellow alumni as we proceed through life.
Robert Feath (Col ’80)
Frankfurt, Germany

As chair of the board of directors of the Serpentine Society, I would like to add some institutional and historical context to the discussion brought up by Barbara Ellen Spencer in her recent letter to the editor.

The Serpentine Society, as one of the Alumni Association’s Affinity Interest Groups, has nearly a thousand members on our e-mail and mailing lists. This type of alumni engagement is especially important to note because many LGBT alumni suffered negative experiences and discrimination while at U.Va. The Serpentine Society is a vehicle to keep LGBT graduates positively connected with the University in a way that they might not otherwise feel if they experienced such isolation while a student.

This engagement has had concrete positive outcomes for the quality of student life at the University. Not only has the Serpentine Society been able to fund programming for the LGBT Resource Center in Newcomb Hall since its founding in 2001, but we also have worked with the dean of students’ office to secure University support for a full-time resource center coordinator.

You can visit www.serpentinesociety.org for information on ways to support these and other initiatives. By working together, we can make U.Va. and the Alumni Association truly inclusive communities for all of us.
Caitlin Ryan (Col ’01)
Columbus, Ohio

The topic of inclusion has struck a chord with many alumni, precipitating an unprecedented response in terms of the volume of letters received. This strong reaction is reflected in the large number of letters that appear in this section. Any future letters on this subject will be published on this Web site.

—Ed.

Gender Balance Needed

After seeing a continuation of an inexcusable trend in the winter 2005 issue of Alumni News, I felt compelled to write. I ask that you make an effort to more accurately represent both the alumni and alumnae of the University. I tire of flipping through page after page in which the vast majority of photos show white, middle-aged men, and the bulk of editorial content features the accomplishments of U.Va.’s male graduates.

Of the very small group of female friends I’m in touch with from my U.Va. years, one became a doctor, one a veterinarian and one is the press secretary for Gov. Mark Warner. Surely you can do more research into U.Va.’s alumni/ae base and come up with a balanced and accurate view of the accomplishments of all U.Va. graduates.
Kelly Cochrane Collar (Col ’88)
Moretown, Vt.

Stem-Cell Research

There is entirely too much kowtowing to religion in this article ("Dividing Lines: The High-Stakes Promise of Stem-Cell Research," Winter 2005). I remember as a schoolchild being forced to eat fish on Friday until the Roman church changed its mind. It is not ethical, in my world, to force others into personal actions that are based on the singular views of one religious leader.

If Roman Catholics don’t like stem-cell research, they should be prepared to refuse the potential treatments this research offers. In most Christian religions, it is God who lets people into heaven, not the laws of the lands in which they live. Similarly, evangelicals who are against the scientific teaching of evolution should refuse to take drugs developed that have used evolutionary biology as a tool in their discovery. Curiously, most people prefer any drug developed by any method to meeting their god. It is also not ethical in any way to force religious views into a science curriculum despite the fact that we owe respect to all points of view. Mr. Childress downplayed the Jewish position on stem cells where, I believe, it is immoral not to do stem-cell research. If this article was less slanted toward particular religions, it would be clear that major religions are diametrically opposed to many viewpoints that affect the health and well-being of the rest of us. While I agree that it is important to not oversell the benefits of a new technology, such attitudes would have shut down the race to the moon, the Human Genome Project, and many, many other successful programs that were initially thought to be too challenging.

I have to wonder how Mr. Childress would react if horticulturists would decide that research funding for ethics should be evenly distributed among every wacky idea that could be found by non-ethicists. He, as an ethicist, suggests that he would like to evenly distribute scientific research funds to include stem-cell "alternatives." As an ethicist, is it proper that he wants to control science, something he’s untrained to do? Science works because it is unbridled and ethics probably does too. The other articles in this series were brilliant.
David W. Gerdt (Engr ’79, ’83)
Faber, Va.

I appreciated Paul Evan’s neutral and objective reporting on the controversial topic of stem-cell research. However, his careless (hopefully not intentional) use of the word "mainstream" instead of "mainline" to describe non-evangelical Protestants unfairly suggests that evangelical Christians are not mainstream. Mainline Protestants are those that belong to the more traditional, and generally more liberal, denominational bodies such as the Presbyterian Church USA and the United Methodist Church. Evangelical Christians are those that belong to generally more conservative denominations such as the Southern Baptists, or newer nondenominational churches. Whether mainline Protestants or evangelical Christians are "mainstream" depends on one’s perspective. To state that one or the other group is mainstream unfairly paints the other as extreme or on the fringe, which is true of neither group.
Ken Liu (Col ’93)
McLean, Va.

LBJ’s Pants

The "unvarnished glimpse" of President Johnson ("The Presidential Recordings of LBJ: The Oval Office ‘With the Bark Off,’" Winter 2005) in your selection of recordings covered the breadth of his politics, but glaringly absent was the "Haggar Pants Order" (www.whitehousetapes.org). Omitting this transcript and reference deprives readers of one the funniest pieces of audiotape in history, and one which demonstrates that LBJ was a typical crude American male. I have never laughed so hard as the day I first heard it.
Brannon Godfrey (Col ’87)
Culpeper, Va.

Not "All In" With Poker

I just finished reading the article "All In: Eric Froehlich’s Winning Hand" (Winter 2005) and was amazed by your choice of subject matter for the alumni magazine. Granted, Mr. Froehlich is a very good poker player, but I fail to see why someone who left U.Va. before graduation to pursue a career in poker playing should be covered in such a significant way in a magazine dedicated to alumni.

There are many U.Va. alumni doing selfless work to help others and improve the world. Surely you could have found one of these to write about, and in the process provide a glimpse into the really fantastic world that a U.Va. degree can open up.
George Fitzgerald (Engr ’87, ’96)
Virginia Beach, Va.

Second Not Good Enough

Some time back I noted the prideful mention in the Alumni News of the graduation rate for U.Va. student-athletes (Cavalier Sports, Winter 2005) and that it was second only to Duke—but by a substantial margin (not emphasized). A degree is a surrogate marker for an education, but it isn’t a bad place to start. Tell me again, slowly and in exquisite detail, why Virginia is behind Duke in this critical ranking?
C.F. Ward (Col ’65, Med ’69)
San Diego, Calif.

To submit a letter to the editor, email uvamag@virginia.edu or send through regular mail U.Va. Magazine, P.O. Box 3446, Charlottesville, VA 22903. We reserve the right to edit submissions for style and content.

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