Published: May 1, 2008

In spite of the prevalence of homosexuals at FCLC, some feel that the administration fails to adequately acknowledge its gay students. This sentiment is amplified by the fact that other colleges across the nation seem to be exerting greater efforts to attract and accomodate gay students and by the fact that services catering specifically to gay prospective college students have become prevalent.

A recent Chicago Daily Herald article calls college recruitment aimed specifically at gay students a “budding trend” in the United States. The National Gay-Friendly College Fair, which was held at the University of California– San Diego on April 11, was a prime venue for such recruitment. Nearly 50 colleges attended the fair, including Princeton, Yale and Stanford.

Patricia Peek, associate director of admission and director of LC Enrollment Group, stated that FCLC does not have a specific plan in accordance with this emergent trend for recruitment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. In response to questions about LGBT friendliness factors, Peek asserted that recruitment efforts “attempt to identify talented and diverse students” and “express that Fordham is an open and accepting community to all students.”

Organizations dedicated specifically to gay college students and gay prospective students have also become more numerous in accordance with the high demand for information by LGBT students. One such organization, Campus Pride, is a national nonprofit which states on its Web site that it is dedicated to giving “voice and action” to LGBT students.  Campus Pride has even developed an LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index, which currently includes rankings for more than 150 colleges across the nation. The factors included in the survey include LGBT policy inclusion, LGBT campus safety and LGBT academic life. Fordham was not rated on this site.

Keith Eldredge, dean of students at FCLC, was hesitant at first to refer to the school’s “large population of gay students” because he stated that he wasn’t completely aware of how FCLC’s student body compared to that of other schools. In regard to the administration’s attitude toward LGBT students at FCLC, Eldredge referenced the Jesuit ideal of cura personalis, which calls for treating every student as an individual. “We want to take each individual student and learn about them and provide service and support for each of their individual needs,” he stated.

Mathew Rodriguez, FCLC ’11, president of Rainbow Alliance, stated that he is gay and likened LGBT recruitment to minority recruitment. Rodriguez also said that he feels a factor that few colleges consider concerning recruitment of LGBT students is the effect that their presence will have on the campus atmosphere. “Whereas enrolling multicultural students is always a plus for a college, often the drive to recruit homosexual students allows for a dialogue that is inherently more overtly political, leading to certain complications that the college did not consider,” he commented.

Rodriguez stated that he feels that “necessary and correct” steps are being taken to make FCLC gay-friendlier, including more support devoted to the growing Rainbow Alliance. He said, however, that he feels the gay culture at Rose Hill is more unified than at FCLC due to Rose Hill’s less gay-friendly atmosphere. “Many homosexuals here feel that because it’s so accepting, there’s no need for solidarity,” he noted.

Samantha Schoer, FCLC ’09 and former president of the Rainbow Alliance, said that gay-friendliness and availability of resources for LGBT students was a “pertinent” part of her college search. She said she knew she had chosen the right school when she saw the Rainbow Alliance table at an accepted student’s day at FCLC.

Yet Schoer’s opinion on the gay-friendliness at FCLC remains ambivalent. “The students and staff are almost all gay-friendly and there is a large LGBT undergrad population. But the administration maintains a lot of homophobic policies, and sometimes it’s a battle to have gay issues addressed at a higher level,” she said. She cited Fordham’s refusal to distribute condoms and its rule prohibiting members of the opposite sex to stay over in dorm rooms as examples of these policies. Schoer said that they show a “heterosexist view, in that they don’t even take into account the LGBT population, and [in that they] show an ignorance towards the needs of a sexually active undergraduate community.”

Allen Sanchez, College of Business Administration (CBA) ’09, said his experience as a gay prospective student at Fordham was “neutral.”

As a CBA student living at FCLC, Sanchez said that the level of gay-friendliness factored into his decision regarding at which campus to live. Sanchez stated that he does not feel that FCLC caters to the wants and needs of its LGBT population. “I have oftentimes inquired about gay-straight alliances at FCLC. I feel that there should be a community, but have been largely ignored when making inquiries,” he remarked.

Shand also said that he did not feel that Fordham adequately addressed its gay population while he was considering attending the college. “I don’t think I could give an example of anytime an administrator has mentioned anything about the gay population at Fordham,” Shand stated. Yet, Shand said that he feels the large gay population of FCLC most likely influences the decision of many gay students regarding whether to attend Rose Hill or Lincoln Center. He said, “The arts were the reason I decided to come to FCLC, but I’m sure that plenty of gay students choose FCLC for its location and acceptance.”

Shand referenced the appeal of New York City as another reason for attending FCLC. “New York has an attraction to a gay man almost unparalleled,” he stated, saying that the “gay atmosphere” of Manhattan plays a huge role in a gay students’ decision to attend FCLC.

As an FCLC student who spends a lot of time at Rose Hill, Shand commented that the level of homophobia is “significantly larger” at the Bronx campus, while at FCLC it is “basically non-existent.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that his major is science, Milton Hallin, FCRH ’08, said that he would have preferred to enroll at FCLC due to its more significant gay population. “I have been called a faggot and hear things referred to as ‘gay’ all the time,” Hallin said of his experience at FCRH. Even so, he said that, generally, the gay students [at FCRH] feel accepted by their peers. “But the image of the administration [as] an overbearing regime persists,” Hallin commented.

As for the “heterosexist” overnight policy in McMahon Hall, Eldredge asserted that “safety and security are the true rationale of the policy” but admitted that the rule probably has a basis in Catholic beliefs regarding premarital sex. Yet, Eldredge said that he does not believe the rule was created entirely for this reason. “If that was the true intention,” he said, “we would be doing more, like in other institutions where they have stricter security.” Eldredge mentioned schools at which members of the opposite sex are not even allowed to enter same-sex dorm buildings and stated that he does not anticipate the overnight policy changing anytime soon.

“Sometimes you don’t realize that the actual school policies are homophobic because the student body and professors seem so open-minded and supportive,” said Schoer.  In terms of advice for current LGBT students at FCLC, Schoer said, “For now, just learn to ignore the administration the way they ignore you.”