Once again, the radical and anti-intellectual movement here at the College has reared its ugly head in the form of a new faction of the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance that ironically labels itself with a self-demeaning title, the "Political Queers."
This group's agenda is not only in direct contradiction with their most fundamental goals of integrating the Dartmouth Community and promoting campus-wide tolerance of the gay/lesbian community, but their proposal to obtain affinity housing for gay/lesbian students is both socially and intellectually destructive to the well being of our campus.
The beauty of Dartmouth's current housing policy is that from the start, an attempt is made to integrate first-year students with as diverse a group of upper-class students as possible. The support for the continuation of this policy of having no all-Freshmen dorms, which the administration over the years has attempted to abolish, comes from the majority of Dartmouth students who believe that a dormitory which does not discriminate on the basis of class, gender, race or sexual preference enhances our residential-life experience. An attempt by the Political Queers to establish their own space within an integrated residential hall is destructive to the current system which the majority of the campus believes to be essential to the Dartmouth experience.
Unfortunately, the issue is more complex. The administration, in contradiction with their goals of integrating the student body and promoting the multicultural agenda, has already established several affinity housing programs which blatantly segregate the campus and isolate specific minority groups to the detriment of both the segregated students and the rest of the campus. It is important, however, to make the distinction between those affinity housing programs which are academically based and those programs which are based upon race and ethnicity. In fact, I currently reside in La Casa, an affinity housing program which offers non-Hispanic students like myself the opportunity to live in a house where one is totally immersed in a Spanish speaking environment. La Casa does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race or class, but rather is open to any student who is interested in the study of Hispanic language and culture. The Francophone House, the Asian Studies Center and the other academically based programs all appear to serve the same fundamental purpose: to provide students with a unique opportunity to experience the integration of residential life with academic interests. I give my full-hearted support to these programs which add to the intellectual diversity of the campus.
However, programs such as Cutter/Shabazz Hall and the Native American House are programs based on race and ethnicity and not academics, thereby excluding those students who do not fit the ethnic or racial mold necessary to reside in the respective halls. This form of segregation based strictly on sexual orientation is exactly what the Political Queers are pushing for. The precedent has already been set by the administration, but now it is time to put an end to this form of segregation which is adding absolutely nothing to the academic mission of the College, but rather is widening the gap between groups and chipping away at the efforts of those who are striving for integration.
The creation of all-gay/lesbian housing would also signify the administration's act of condoning homosexual behavior within the dorm, thus discriminating against any heterosexual couple who wishes to share a room on-campus. Why has the administration prohibited heterosexual couples from residing in the same room? If homosexual couples are permitted to reside together, then the administration is obligated to permit heterosexual couples to do the same.
Or in fact, I have an even better idea. Why don't we continue feeding fuel to the fire and allow the Dartmouth Review staffers to have an entire floor to themselves in a residential hall which would be just as legitimate. Actually, we could probably manage to fit all of the Political Queers and the Dartmouth Review staff on the fourth-floor of Mid-Mass and let them battle it out, no holds barred. I could just imagine half of Mid-Mass draped with rainbow flags and littered with "Gay Friendly Space" stickers, while the other half of the hall would be covered with Indian paraphernalia and Wah-Hoo-Wah banners! Sounds good to me!
