<p>I agree with mini’s posts.</p>
<p>But re: “They look at Yale with its massive gay male population (last survey I saw some years ago more than double the percentage of gay male students as lesbians at the women’s colleges), its internationally renowned gay/lesbian studies department, the huge (and disproportionate) role gay students play in the Yale arts community, and they’d like to capture some of its magic.”</p>
<p>Yale’s magic cannot be replicated.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about why this bothers me. I think it’s because I imagine that any 16 - 18 year old who has concluded that he/she is gay has been through some difficult times already. Maybe I’m wrong. But to use that issue in applications just rubs me the wrong way – it still feels like exploitation.</p>
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<p>As has been pointed out, no one is forcing students to “out” themselves. But some gay students may see this as an indication of the importance that Middlebury places on diversity of all types and consider a college they otherwise might not have. Midd has been criticized often on this forum for its homogenous student body. Now the college is taking steps to bring in a more diverse group. Vermont is a tough sell for some, so the college needs to be more proactive in attracting these students.</p>
<p>Yale has been attracting gays because of its great program in gender and queer studies. Isn’t it enough for the college to have a well-publicized policy of non-discrimination?</p>
<p>Wesleyan has its share of gays and lesbians–and they used to be very in-your face with their chalkings until the chalkings were banned. But it did not ask students to self-identify, nor, to my knowledge, did it give a tip to self-identified gays. No one prevents students from writing about their experiences and identity, so that bit is a canard. </p>
<p>Should there also be a box for heterosexuals to self-identify?</p>
<p>With this knowledge of who is gay and who is not, how will Middlebury choose to handle assigning roommates?</p>
<p>Same way Yale does, by ignoring it.</p>
<p>“Isn’t it enough for the college to have a well-publicized policy of non-discrimination?”</p>
<p>If you exist in rural Vermont, have a total of 5 openly gay students, and wish to compete with Yale or NYU or Wesleyan or Smith or Wellesley, probably not.</p>
<p>This is a very depressing thread to read. I don’t believe that Midd is going to have a box to check; ti sounds like they’re just saying that if a student identifies as gay that this could be a tip. The idea that it is exploiting the students whose interest it plainly is in seems like a fairly tiny figleaf to cover the actual motive of not wanting someone else to get that tip.</p>
<p>And that supposedly smart people are reducing one’s sexual orientation to what one chooses to do in bed is really dismaying. Orientation is just that. Knowing a person’s sexual orientation tells you nothing about what they are doing, or not doing, in bed.</p>
<p>But as some of put forth, knowing you’re going to have a cohort of students who share the fact of having a minority orientation would definitely be a comfort to a student who’s already going away to school with an added anxiety most students don’t share.</p>
<p>Yes, Wesleyan has a very large and vocal gay community. They don’t have to advertise it, because it’s well-known. Maybe Midd envies the diverse viewpoints this brings to Wes’ campus.</p>
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<p>Quite rightly. But did Wes give a tip to gays?</p>
<p>I have no idea. But the point is, Midd would like to build a welcoming atmosphere that is perceived at Wes and less so at Midd. And if this works for them, what’s the big issue?</p>
<p>I think many are missing the point…if they want to do some outreach to show that the college is a gay friendly place, fine. But if they want to give and admission preference, that is - a preference, based on sexual orientation? That makes no sense to me - and only increases the divisiveness that is apparently in some quarters present. And since when should sexual orientation cause an advantage? Is there no end to the academy’s echo chamber search for the height of victimocracy? </p>
<p>And frankly, I find the notion that gay males are any more or less creative a little bit condscending and reflective of a negative sterotype. Want more artsy creative types? Recruit them - artists, musicians, you name it. But to maintain that selecting, and preferring for a certain sexual orientation will obtain that result is nuts. Last I checked, plenty of gay and straight people participate in the arts.</p>
<p>I’m still trying to figure out how being gay adds to diversity? Maybe I don’t understand what affirmative action (which this essentially is) is.</p>
<p>All I know is that when I step on the campus of a $45,000/year school, where fewer than half the kids are receiving ANY financial aid at all, it simply does not feel diverse at all. (Or at least I haven’t found one that does.)</p>
<p>Do I sympathize with gay students - yes I do. I know it’s got to be tough to be a gay teenager in America today, and I hate that about the current climate of hate mongering.</p>
<p>But I think it will be a l-o-n-g time before a small, expensive liberal arts college is the best place for kids who are seeking diversity.</p>
<p>That’s great in theory - but the point is, they haven’t been able to. And it isn’t for lack of trying.</p>
<p>"Passalacqua said that gay students bring “a unique quality” to the college, which he said tries hard not “to be too homogeneous.”</p>
<p>Now maybe he is right, and maybe he is wrong. It wasn’t a decision they made without data, or without research. And it’s not like, with a total of 5 openly gay folks on campus now, the sweeping hordes from the homosexual lifestyle are going to be banging down the doors anytime soon. They are simply trying to ensure a place with a large enough critical mass that gay students are comfortable (otherwise they end up with even fewer than they already have, if even that is possible) and enhance the education of ALL students - that’s what building a class is all about. This isn’t about gay students - it’s about Middlebury providing the best possible education for its entire student body - gay or straight or something in-between.</p>
<p>weenie, which NESCAC schools openly award merit scholarships? I know a few have special grants they give certain applicants (NMS, etc.), but I don’t know of any that don’t have an entirely need-based fin aid program.</p>
<p>Weenie–agreed that sexual orientation tells you nothing about creativity. Do we have any reason to think that’s Midd’s reason?</p>
<p>I am not quite sure why you keep taking this back to economics. If you’d like to see more economic diversity, so would I. But not encouraging another kind won’t further that one.</p>
<p>My D’s transgender friend who came from a farm in the midwest would’ve liked to see more people at Wes at his (rather low) income level, but was still happy to find a place where his identity was accepted as it wouldn’t be in so many other places. Apparently, it would’ve been that much harder for him at Middlebury, and it would be nice to see that change.</p>
<p>Arcadia, Hamilton gives merit scholarships.n</p>
<p>garland:
I take nearly everything back to economic diversity - because that is the true story of diversity in America.</p>
<p>Mini, sound a lot like the college I remember. I knew of one gay undergrad, one gay grad student. There didn’t seem to be any prejudice against them that I was aware of, but no one else felt comfortable coming out either. It was funny coming back for 25th reunion and finding how many were obviously gay now and were completely open about it. At least 10%.</p>
<p>Me2–interesting. I had no idea that Hamilton gave merit awards (although to a very small group of outstanding applicants). I guess it’s necessary to pull cross admits away from its peers. And why is Hamilton in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, anyway? Last time I checked, New York wasn’t part of New England…</p>
<p>“Last I checked, plenty of gay and straight people participate in the arts.”</p>
<p>Last I checked a much greater percentage of architects were gay than the general population. (At least at Columbia in the 1980s!) Of course I know plenty of straight architects too, but there is often a nugget of truth to stereotypes.</p>
<p>As a Vermonter, I find this amusing since Vermont was the first state to allow gay couples to partner legally through a civil union, and therefore already has a reputation for openness. There already is an active gay community in the state. </p>
<p>It does seem as though Middlebury is interested in changing its image with this. Funky quirky kids go to Marlboro or Bennington if they want to go to college in Vermont. Middlebury may attract more outdoorsy types; do they want to change this? With its proximity to ski slopes and hiking trails, Middlebury will always be attractive to the sporty, nature-loving type kid.</p>
<p>I am all for increasing economic diversity on college campuses. I don’t quite see how giving merit scholarships promotes that.</p>