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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2001)
January 19.2001 The harmony was short-lived, however. John Goldrick, student services vice presi dent, met with students Jan. 17. Kruse said the meeting was a step forward because it started a dialogue with administrators about crucial issues: harassment of gays and les bians, lack of sexual diversity education and support for gay students, lack of student input about campus policies and low numbers of professors of color on campus, among others concerns. But the meeting frustrated her. She said Goldrick continually passed the buck, telling the four students at the meeting that other segments of the university, including the stu dent government body and the professors themselves, were responsible for making poli cy changes to address the complaints. Kruse said the administrators criticized her for not coming to them directly with her com plaints and concerns. “I didn’t feel comfortable,” she said in her defense. Goldrick and the University of Portland public relations office did not respond to repeat ed requests for an interview. Finliiii i parposi fter graduating from a Montana high school, Kruse wanted to leave the state. She started looking at the Rose City as a possible destina tion but knew nothing about University of Port land. She’s not a Catholic and never had heard of the institution when she accepted a scholar ship offer from the university. Within a week, Kruse knew she was in the wrong place. “I made the biggest mistake of my life,” she recalled thinking. “1 can’t even describe what it was like.” The freshman said she was an outcast from the beginning; students assumed she was a lesbian and shunned her. “It was not outright (discrimination), but you know when you’re not welcome," she said. In October 1998, student Jeff Lee wrote an editorial in the school’s newspaper, The Beacon, about the murder of Matthew Shepard and the issue of homosexuality. “This horrific act can not be tolerated...it must also be stated that homosexuality is an immoral lifestyle choice and should not be accepted as normal,” he wrote. “Show compassion, help and lead them away from the abomination of homosexuality.” A plained, university personnel told her she need ed counseling and questioned her “lifestyle >■ ' ,mi « * ? * choice” and disparaged her for choosing a Catholic university, she said. “Boys will be boys,” she said a staff member For the first told her. Most officials threw their hands up in the air and said they couldn’t do anything about the situa passion. I felt tion. The com plainant claims she was denied like it was m y when she asked for a sup purpose o f m y portive advocate to sit in on her meetings with uni versity personnel. Her parents quickly tried to find an attorney for their o f Portland. " daughter. After one term at the — Kari Kruse university, she packed up and returned to live with her parents. One of her friends told Just Out she eventually might return to Portland— this time to attend Portland State University. Kruse says these stories are not isolated inci dents. “It’s not about me. It’s about an entire institution.” She thinks the university should be taking After a year and a half of suffering, Kruse responsibility for these issues rather than sit decided she’d had enough. There was no gay ting back and waiting for students to complain. and lesbian organization on campus, there was “If you want to make change, you need to no advocate for sexual minority students, there make it yourself,” Kruse said Goldrick told her. “But that is not how it works at University of were few classes where the issue even would be Portland,” she told Just Out. Students aren’t addressed, and there was an institutional atmosphere that said her life was not a empowered at the university, she said. Kruse will graduate in May with a degree in “Catholic value.” Thinking about transferring to another uni social work. She said the group she founded has versity, despite the financial advantage of being potential leaders who will remain. She hopes at University of Portland, Kruse suddenly had the work FUEL has done will continue. Although passionate about the work, more the idea to start FUEL. The name is from a than two years of being at odds with her univer favorite lyric by folk singer Ani Difranco: sity has worn her down a bit. Still, she tries to “There’s a fire just waiting to fuel.” Kruse adopted that name for her brainchild see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. “My role in this is to set a spark, raise and announced in a class that she was starting awareness,” Kruse said. “The demonstration the group. To her amazement, by day’s end she had 45 students’ signatures showing interest in did that.” J fT l getting involved. J onathan K ipp is a Just Out staff “For the first time in life, I found my pas reporter who can be reached at sion,” Kruse said. “I felt like it was my purpose of jkipp@teleport.com. my being at University of Portland.” M m * wart ti ki in n T hese days, Kruse feels respected on cam pus. After three years of activism, her career ambitions have shifted from psychology to politics. Students are more organized at University of Portland and care more about the same things she cares about. Kruse said she’s learned that when students get together they have a voice. But things at the university have not changed enough— not nearly enough. Kruse said she can count the number of out gay students on one hand. Even after two years, most of the members of FUEL are heterosexual. And harassment of gays con tinues in the campus dorms. A university freshman reported I lu* Radical to Just Out that a male student Cheerleaders repeatedly harassed her in her entertain the dorm because of her perceived les crowd assembled bianism. Homophobic epithets at University regularly were heard in the hall of Portland ways of the dormitories. At one point a “No on 9” sign on her dorm room door was defaced— i “Yes! Fucking Fags,” someone wrote on it. When the young woman com Í3 S tudent D emands fob A ction F or immediate attention: 1. Zero tolerance: Residence Life should implement a zero-tolerance policy regarding oppressive actions and harassing language. 2. Diverse classes: Offer courses that give us education on diverse real-world issues like women’s and multicultural issues. 3. Sexual diversity education: Sexual diver sity education should be made available for dor mitory resident assistants and their halls. 4. L G B T advocate: This underrepresented population needs a liaison in Residence Life. 5. Club status: Form a student committee that will participate with the administration in deciding which groups will receive club status. L ong-term goals: 6. Diversity in the teaching body: With in the next five years, University of Portland needs to hire at least five professors of color to enrich student education. 7. Cultural center: Devote some of the annual alumni funds toward building a multi cultural center on university grounds in order to continue the commitment to diversity aware ness and education. 8. Visual arts: Art programs are necessary in a school dominated by engineering and busi ness. Expression and creation are important parts of a well-rounded education. 9. Public safety: Conduct open forums with Public Safety to discuss ways it can serve the university community and its surrounding neighborhoods better. 10. Day care: There is no availability for child care for students at the university. This detracts from the university community because it eliminates parents with young children from the possibility of attending.
