Follow-up

Tufts students win

by Kristen Lombardi

In the end it took just 12 words to put an end to a 35-hour sit-in -- and to the campus strife that has consumed Tufts University for months. In a three-paragraph letter published on November 30 in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Tufts University president John DiBiaggio acknowledged that the school has a "rigorous and comprehensive" policy prohibiting discrimination. He also penned these magic words: "The nondiscrimination policy is understood to include self-acceptance of one's identity."

Last week, 20 students occupied the undergraduate-admissions office to demand that DiBiaggio say just that. The sit-in was a culmination of student actions protesting a recent decision by the Tufts Student Judiciary Board, which held that a Christian student group could remain on campus with the school's imprimatur, even though the group had denied a leadership position to an openly lesbian member with three years' seniority. The student had filed a complaint with the student judiciary, charging that the group had discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation. The student judiciary's final ruling in the case recognized that Tufts prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation, but it seemed to hold that the policy might allow discrimination based on beliefs about race, gender, or sexual orientation. All parties agree that the trouble began when the lesbian student, who had previously wanted to become heterosexual, informed her fellow group members that she now believed it was okay to be gay. (See "When Rights Collide," News and Features, November 22.)

Success has remained sweet for students ever since the president's statement. "There has been a lot of happiness and bliss," says Louis Esparza, a member of Tufts Students Against Discrimination (TSAD), the coalition that staged the sit-in. "After months of [ignoring us], the president has finally said the few words that we wanted him to say."

This doesn't mean that TSAD has won its war altogether, however. The president's letter is not a legally binding document, so students are appealing to the Tufts student senate to make sure that the president's statement becomes authoritative language in official school documents. Ultimately, TSAD is trying to ensure that any student group found to violate the policy will immediately lose its funding and recognition.

But the fight looks a lot easier these days. Esparza and his colleagues say that DiBiaggio's letter has gone a long way toward helping their cause and soothing the tensions that have plagued the campus in recent months. Today, students know the administration will take them seriously -- at least, if push comes to shove.

Says TSAD member Vanessa Dillen, "We feel like we have the power to do something, and it can work. It's a great feeling."