Administrators
at
Berry
College,
a
Christian
university
in
Rome,
Ga.,
about
70
miles
northwest
of
Atlanta,
have
long
denied
a
gay
student
group’s
quest
for
official
recognition,
citing
policy
concerns
at
the
private
institution.
Attempts
for
official
club
status
for
the
gay
group
named
LISTEN
started
before
the
current
group
of
students’
efforts.
Gay
students
want
the
recognition,
and
share
of
student
activity
fees,
that
come
with
the
college’s
acceptance.
“We
want
to
be
officially
recognized
because
it’s
an
official
acknowledgement
of
our
existence,”
said
senior
Becky
McDaniel,
LISTEN
event
coordinator.
“We
can
do
some
of
the
things
that
we
want
to
do
as
far
as
providing
support
to
gay
students
unofficially,
but
being
an
official
club
would
give
us
a
lot
more
opportunities.”
Speaking
on
behalf
of
Berry
College,
Jennie
Mathews,
assistant
vice
president
of
marketing
and
public
relations,
said
the
college
does
not
recognize
what
it
considers
single-issue
advocacy
groups.
“It’s
a
policy
issue,
it
absolutely
is,”
Mathews
said.
“We
do
not
recognize
groups
that
advocate
only
on
a
single
issue.
For
example,
we
would
not
extend
official
status
to
a
right-to-life
group,
which
has
applied
for
club
status
in
the
past.”
While
the
college
has
dozens
of
student
groups
like
College
Republicans,
Young
Democrats
and
Students
Against
Violating
the
Earth,
LISTEN
falls
into
a
different
category
because
the
college
considers
a
gay
organization
to
be
supporting
a
single
issue.
“We
do
have
College
Republicans
and
Young
Democrats
and
they
are
not
considered
single
issue
groups,
and
they
have
been
on
campuses
for
years
and
years.
They
give
students
an
opportunity
to
discuss
many,
many
issues
on
the
ever-changing
political
climate,”
Mathews
said.
The
school
appears
to
be
splitting
hairs
when
it
comes
to
defining
what
is
or
is
not
a
single-issue
advocacy
group,
according
to
LISTEN
supporters.
Berry
hosts
Amnesty
International,
Baptist
Campus
Ministries
and
EMPOWER,
which
focuses
on
women’s
issues.
LISTEN
also
doesn’t
seem
to
qualify
as
a
multi-cultural
organization,
like
the
Black
Student
Alliance
or
Orgullo,
whose
stated
purpose
is
to
promote
awareness
of
Spanish
culture.
“I
don’t
know
why
we’re
not
the
same
as
those
groups,”
McDaniel
said.
“That’s
a
good
question
for
the
administration.”
Mathews
said
the
college
draws
a
line
between
groups
like
the
Chess
Club,
and
more
politically
oriented
groups.
“I
think
there
is
a
difference
between
groups
that
put
on
events
and
advocacy
groups,”
Mathews
said.
One
of
the
reasons
LISTEN
seeks
official
recognition
is
to
get
a
share
of
the
money
generated
by
student
activities
fees.
With
additional
money,
McDaniel
said
she
could
bring
in
more
speakers
and
plan
more
events.
LISTEN
members
said
they
would
like
to
both
put
on
events
and
advocate
for
change
on
campus.
“There
are
students
here
who
just
came
out
the
closet,
and
they
need
someone
to
talk
with,”
senior
Kaitlin
Kolarik
said.
Berry
College
is
a
nondenominational
liberal
arts
college
with
roughly
1,800
students.
Tuition
costs
$22,000
with
an
additional
$8,000
for
room
and
board.
Kolarik
said
many
gay
students
are
drawn
to
Berry
knowing
its
atmosphere
because
they
want
a
quality
education
with
small
class
sizes
in
an
intimate
campus
setting,
but
noted
some
leave.
“We
actually
have
had
a
lot
of
students
leave,”
Kolarik
said.
“I
can
think
of
a
few
freshmen
off
the
top
of
my
head
who
left
because
the
gay
community
is
so
unaccepted.”
Mathews
said
while
the
college
encourages
exploration
of
a
person’s
faith,
they
don’t
advocate
a
certain
perspective
toward
homosexuality.
She
noted
there
are
discussions
of
gay,
lesbian,
bisexual
and
transgender
issues
in
the
campus
media
and
said
no
one
is
trying
to
silence
their
voice.
“Right
now
there
is
an
unofficial
group
[LISTEN]
that
does
meet,
and
it
is
facilitated
by
our
dean
of
students
office,”
Mathews
stressed.
“They
just
aren’t
official
recognized,
as
are
a
number
of
student
groups.”
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
thisisben on 9/9/089:56 AM:
I am a graduate of Berry College (94). A few years ago, I contacted Berry Alumni Office re: this issue. I was told by a sympathetic alumni officer that the issue with the club is at the Board of Trustees level. Supposedly the president (and several other leaders) are supportive of the gay student group but the Trustees won't have it. Students and alumni of Berry should write letters to the Trustees.
Clint Parsons on 9/11/089:02 AM:
This isn’t about being gay or straight. It’s about equality. Even if you disagree with homosexuality, as Americans we should all support each others’ rights to live a free life and to follow the pursuit of happiness. Currently, Berry College is telling us that we’re second-class citizens and we get a second-class pseudo- group. Is Listen allowed to operate on Berry campus? Sure, but much like separate drinking fountains for blacks and whites during segregation, Listen is separate but clearly not equal.
Tireku on 9/18/087:28 PM:
Mathews seems to be finding any reason to keep this club from being made official. First she argues the club 'LISTEN' is considered a single-issue advocacy group and therefore is not allowed to be deamed an official group yet 'Students Against Violating the Earth' is a single-issue advocacy group fighting to keep the Earth clean and you could consider any one side political club as a single-issue advocacy also as they only argue one side of politics, Repub. or Democ. It seems to fall more into the support group type of club which is acceptable and therefore can be recognized officially.
