OUTreachND denied official recognition
By TIM LOGAN
News Writer
When OUTreachND applied for official club status from the University in March, many people predicted that application would be rejected.
This week, those predictions came true.
In a letter dated April 7, Joe Cassidy, director of Student Activities, told OUTreach's former co-presidents that he was denying their bid for recognition, saying the University preferred to serve homosexual students through its own groups, not a student-run organization.
"It is through programs and services offered by committed professionals and ministers that we wish to work with gay and lesbian students at Notre Dame," Cassidy wrote.
But OUTreach leaders say the community-building nature of a student group can not be matched by official University programs.
"What we can do that they're not addressing is we create a community for gay and lesbian students, and the [Standing Committee on Gay and Lesbian Student Needs] isn't going to do that," said OUTreach co-president Molly Morin.
OUTreach leaders have also said that Notre Dame's programs for homosexuals needed improvement.
When the group applied for recognition, outgoing co-president Jeremy Bauer said many members felt the University's efforts – which include the Standing Committee and programs by Campus Ministry, the University Counseling Center and the Office of Student Affairs – were not sufficient.
New co-president Dave Wyncott said Cassidy's decision did not ease that problem.
"I think that it skirts around the issue of whether we as a University are meeting the needs of gay and lesbian students," he said.
Cassidy met with OUTreach leaders during the first week of April to discuss Notre Dame's services for homosexuals. In his letter, he encouraged the group to bring further concerns to the Standing Committee, which was formed in 1996 to improve the conditions for gay and lesbian students.
"I'm really pleased with the effort and what I've seen from the University in the last five years," Cassidy said.
Wyncott also said that the denial of club status for OUTreach does not help to bring gay and lesbian students closer to the University community.
"By not recognizing us, they color us as somehow `other,' still, and by coloring us as `other' they say we're not normal," he said.
The decision was made by Cassidy, who determines all club recognition issues. Wyncott and Morin said they were considering appealing the decision to Father Mark Poorman, vice president for Student Affairs, and that they would definitely try to learn more specific reasons why a student group could not be recognized.
This was the fourth time a gay and lesbian student group has been denied recognition. In 1986, 1992 and 1995, OUTreach's predecessor, Gays and Lesbians of Notre Dame/Saint Mary's College (GLND/SMC) applied and was rejected.
OUTreachND has between 30 and 40 active members, and a mailing list of approximately 150, according to its presidents.
All News Stories for Thursday, April 13, 2000
