LETTERS

Letters to Academe of three hundred words or fewer are encouraged. Academe reserves the right to edit letters. Submit them by mail to the AAUP or by e-mail to . Submissions must include the writer's name and phone number.

GLBT Faculty Reject Marginalization

TO THE EDITOR:

Some nights ago my partner and I had dinner with the president of the University of Southern California and his wife. My dean and her husband have been dinner guests at our house. I have been president of the Academic Senate and currently work with the provost on our strategic plan. I mention these points in reference to Doug Steward's article, "Working Toward Equality," in the July-August issue. I do not question for a minute much of what he claims about the inequities gays and lesbians face in academe. I also know that vast differences exist for a tenured professor at a private university in Los Angeles and, for example, an untenured faculty member at a public college in the Bible belt. However, I am troubled when gay and lesbian academic portraits are drawn that place us as victims and on the margins. Steward states at the end of his article that "the campus community has not been an empowering place for GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered] people." Unfortunately, I agree. But that should be the beginning of our analysis, not its conclusion. Academic life is always fraught with uncertainty and the potential for discrimination when we question norms either through one's ideas or one's self. Such an observation ought not place us as victims awaiting yet another blow from an unfair system, but as engaged intellectuals at the center trying to change that system.

WILLIAM TIERNEY

(Higher Education)

University of Southern California

DOUG STEWARD RESPONDS:

William Tierney rightly urges us not to accept complacently the systemic marginalization of GLBT members of academe. The phrase that he attributes to me, however, is not mine but a quotation from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's recent study Campus Climate for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered People: A National Perspective. I am pleased to note that the Supreme Court's June 26 decision in Lawrence v. Texas prevents future uses of state sodomy laws to discriminate against GLBT educators. Academic research in GLBT studies played a significant role in the court's reasoning. Open or Shut Doors at CUNY?

TO THE EDITOR:

In "Open Admissions at the City University of New York" in the July-August issue, William Crain downplays key information about CUNY's baccalaureate admissions policy. As a result, he presents a one-sided argument that distorts the policy's impact. If we are to allow the academic community to make a fair judgment about CUNY's admissions policy, then the following information must be considered.

Contrary to what Crain and his fellow critics predicted, the new policy has had little effect on the racial composition of CUNY's senior colleges, a finding echoed by the New York State Education Commissioner. This stability is due in part to CUNY's initiatives to improve the preparation of students from all backgrounds.

CUNY's efforts to prepare students before they enter college mean that more students can begin college taking credit-bearing courses. College Now, a collaborative initiative of CUNY and the New York City Department of Education, prepares graduating high school seniors to do college-level work. The free program serves over 35,000 students a year. CUNY also ofiers free remedial instruction to entering students during the summer and winter. Success in these immersion programs enables many students to qualify for admission to a senior college. Students who complete remediation before starting college benefit in many ways, not the least of which is that they can put their financial aid award toward courses that count for a degree.

Although drain attempts to discount them, exemptions for English as a Second Language (ESL) and SEEK students (SEEK is a special opportunity program for underprepared students) are an integral element of the new policy and therefore must be included in any analysis of the racial impact of that policy. Exempt students improve their basic skills through ESL courses, counseling, tutoring, and workshops, enabling them to successfully complete college coursework.

To be sure, CUNY will continue to monitor the impact of the changes in its admissions policy. However, the evidence thus far shows a policy change that raises academic standards while maintaining diversity, a policy certainly worthy of support.

DAVID CROOK

Dean for Institutional Kesearch and Assessment

City University of New York

WILLIAM CRAIN RESPONDS:

From David Crook's letter, a reader might conclude that I said nothing about the impact of CUNY's new bachelor's degree admissions policy on student diversity. But I reported the effects so far. Between 1999 and 2002, "the proportion of white and Asian first-year students increased two to three percentage points, while the proportion of African American and Latino students decreased by two to three points." Crook and I see the size of this change differently, but there's a more basic disagreement.