1988: Trustees Approve Sexual Orientation Clause

By Orly Hazony, published December 9, 1988

The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees approved the addition of the term "sexual orientation" into the University's nondiscrimination clause last week.

The Executive Committee consists of 12 members of the Board of Trustees who have the authority to act on issues for the entire board.

"I think that it was an important question which got a very thorough airing among all of the University's constituents; faculty, administration, and students," said Allen Ford, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

The board discussed the issue in a full board meeting at the beginning of the semester and during two additional meetings of the Executive Committee. However, the board officially took "no action" on the clause at each of these meetings.

"Most of the trustees don't have a lot of exposure when dealing with this type of an issue," said Ford. "The members of the Executive Committee wanted to make sure that they had enough time to hear all sides, pro and con, before they took a vote."

"There was a lot of behind the scenes work going on in between meetings," said Greg Davis, one of the students who initiated the addition to the clause. "All the information we wanted to offer to them [the Board of Trustees] made its way to them. Once they had all of the information, they took the inevitable position to alter the policy."

"I am pleased with the action of the board on the issue and I hope that we can now put that behind us," said University President Agnar Pytte.