Vol. 6, Issue 3
November 2013
The University of St. Thomas is reviewing a proposal for a new student organization that would offer outreach to members of the community who have been victimized by discrimination on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation, a university official confirmed on Wednesday.
UST Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia McKinley said that the university is in the process of vetting UST Allies, to which the Council of Clubs granted membership status on October 10. For now, UST Allies is "on hold" while university leadership considers how to ensure the club's goals are aligned with the values of the UST community, according to McKinley.
"We're doing our best to do our research to understand how other universities handle a thing such as this," she said. "We want to do the right thing when it comes to this kind of issue."
After receiving the COC's stamp of approval last month, it went into startup mode with plans to begin hosting campus activities in spring 2014, according to Jonathan Rea, one of the club's organizers. Rea said that the vote was an important step for the club, a previous iteration which had been shot down by the COC in 2006.
"The student body was the entity that shot us down," Rea said. "It was in 2006, so
Its fair to say that it was a different time, ad a different UST body.”
Rea said that when the club was first proposed seven years ago, the COC was unwilling to sign off on an explicitly “gay-straight” alliance and that the UST Allies’ scope will be much broader, with its aim to serve as a voice and offer guidance to “marginalized” students and community members from all walks of life.
But Rea added that UST Allies will be open to students of all sexual orientations and that the club’s goals include encouraging discussions of gay rights issues.
“UST Allies is a group that is present to service and provide support for all students who have experienced discrimination on campus and to basically address the needs of all underrepresented persons based on their race, gender or sexual orientation.” Rea said.
In addition to hosting on-campus educational events, the club plans to make volunteering a core part of its activities, including participating in the AIDS Walk and volunteering at Covenant House, according to Rea.
“Many youth in the Montrose community go [to Covenant House] as one of their last resorts. It just so happens that many of the underrepresented youth around St. Thomas who end up at Covenant House are, in fact, homosexual youth,” Rea said.
Rea also emphasized that the purpose of UST Allies is to provide community support, not to advocate political issues or pass judgement on the morality of homosexuality.
“UST Allies is not a political group,” Rea said. “We definitely want to stay away from any political attachments, and any attachment to a particular party and issue.”
Sister Marie Faubert, who serves as director of the On-Campus Counselor Education Program at UST’s School of Education, has been asked to serve as faculty advisor to the club. Faubert said she looked forward to helping the club get off the ground.
“I feel honored to be asked,” she said. “I am a Sister of St. Joseph, and our ministry is directly related to thinking of others as neighbors. We are called to serve those not otherwise served, and I am always interested in working with people who may have been victims of oppression in our society.”
Following the COC vote in favor of UST Allies, Faubert suggested that the recent statements made by Pope Francis in promoting inclusiveness within the Catholic faith are believed to be driving global change in attitudes towards members of the gay community.
“There’s a rationale at the beginning of [UST Allies] constitution that quotes Pope Francis,” she said. “In the September 20, 2013 issue of America [the Jesuit magazine] Pope Francis says ’this church, with which we should be thinking, is the home of all. Not a small chapel that can only hold a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity. And the church is mother, the church is fruitful - it must be.’ "
If the university signs off on UST Allies, one of Faubert’s chief responsibilities would be to help UST Allies develop educational activities that stress the importance of the human dignity present in each person and how this is a core tenant of the Catholic faith, she said. Faubert pointed to a passage contained in the National Conference of Catholic Bishops 1998 publication ‘Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to the Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for the Pastoral Ministry’ as instructive.
“Every person has an inherent dignity, because he or she is created in God’s image,” she said. “And the inherent dignity of each person was a constant theme of Pope John Paul II and it sounds like it will be a constant thing with Pope Francis also.”
Faubert said she hopes UST Allies will serve as a support group reflecting on Catholic values for those who have been traditionally shunned by mainstream society.
“The homosexual students are not listed in the laws about discrimination,” she said. “It's not illegal to discriminate against them. There have been past instances of discrimination. It's really [for] a group of people who have been marginalized for any reason. It's a club for support.”