Students dismiss claims of discrimination and defend campus diversity
By Natalie Beale
Scarlet Staff
The blog La Salette Journey has been circulating on Facebook and discussed on campus since January 19th, following the provocative post ?Clark University: Demonizing religious opposition towards homosexuality.?
The author claims that the university is fundamentally anti-Catholic, and, to use a tired phrase, has a ?radical homosexual agenda.?
The basis of this assault on Clark, continued in five further posts, is from one definition from the website of the Dean of Students? Office. Among definitions of ?Rape, Sexual Assault and Related Terms,? for the understanding and protection of students, is ?heterosexism.?
Taken from the Clark website, the definition of heterosexism is ?the systematic, day-to-day, institutional mistreatment of gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual people by a heterosexually dominated culture.
?At its core, heterosexism assumes that heterosexual relationships represent the norm and are, therefore, implicitly superior to gay, lesbian, transsexual or bisexual relationships.?
La Salette Journey refers to this statement as an ?assault on Catholic moral teaching.? Regardless of these views, any short visit to campus will reveal Clark?s dedication to free speech and equal treatment. Heterosexism, elaborated on by research from the Psychology Department?s Abbie Goldberg, is an ideological system that ?denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form of behavior, identity, relationship or?community.?
Heterosexism can take the form of ?antigay legislation,? or on a smaller scale, ?workplace jokes that capitalize on stereotypes of sexual minorities.? The definition is there to ensure that Clark is an environment that is free of prejudice.
Preventing discriminatory practices does not impact the private beliefs of the individual, it is done to preserve individual equality. The presence of LGBTQ groups like OPEN, as well as various religious groups from Clark Hillel to the different Christian denominations, reflect the university?s overriding tolerance and the diversity of its students.
La Salette has most recently condemned the newly founded Clark Freethought Society, which is an alternative to the currently?established religious groups on campus, for ?Humanists, skeptics, non-theists, the questioningly religious, agnostics, atheists, deists, and even undecided students.?
However, the addition of another student group to the Clark community reflects the campus? attraction to students of all viewpoints.
Initial response to the blog from Clark students, including Catholic students, was thoroughly supportive of the university. The environment of the internet allows for antagonistic discourse, but there was positivity to be found,?and many Clarkies had something to say.
One Catholic student commented, ?I am not discriminated against by my peers for my religion ? nor do I discriminate against others because of their sexuality. This is the norm at Clark.?
Another student asserted, ?I don?t believe you?ll ever find a more welcoming and accepting student body than you would find at Clark.?
The tone of response on Facebook was dismissive, and it seems that to most students, Clark?s equality and diversity is celebrated and understood as a matter of fact. Far from discriminating, Clark protects the rights of all students, and this is particularly important for the LGBTQ community, which, like other minority groups, deserves an equal voice.
When asked to make a statement, Clark?s LGBTQ group, OPEN responded, ?We do not feel this blog accurately represents the Clark community. OPEN accepts all humans and always will!?
Yet again, ?community? is the key word. Clark has created an environment where students can express their opinions freely, and live without fear of prejudice or discrimination.
One angry blog will struggle to make even a ripple in the community, and needless antagonism will always fail in a space of free speech and respect for personal rights.
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Source: http://clarknews.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/blog-accuses-clark-of-christianophobia/
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