Freshman workshops to fight homophobia

By William S. Mauldin

The homophobia meetings were initially to be conducted by Pathways, the peer counseling group staffed by gay and lesbian Yalies. Pathways members decided, however, that a separate group focusing specifically on homophobia would be more effective. Some Pathways members as well as other students therefore created the Sexual Orientation and Community Counselors last year.

The group's co-chair, Sarah Hammond, CC '99, said that many students, including herself, joined the group because some of their friends had been harassed due to their sexual orientation. They saw the need to create this kind of program for incoming freshmen. She said approximately 12 to 15 members attend the group's weekly meetings.

The homophobia workshops will not be an official part of the freshman orientation because administrators believe incoming students are already required to attend too many meetings. Betty Trachtenberg, dean of student of affairs and director of freshmen affairs, said that "the word `mandatory' became a word of humor," in regard to attendance at the workshops last fall. Instead of having three required workshops addressing security, alcohol, and safe sex, students in the class of 2002 will only be required to attend a security meeting and a combined workshop covering both alcohol and safe sex. "We decided to meld alcohol and safer sex into one meeting," Trachtenberg explained.

Since they will not be a part of next year's freshman orientation program, the homophobia meetings will most likely be conducted through the residential colleges. The Sexual Orientation and Community Counselors will first hold workshops with freshman counselors during the freshman counselor orientation in the late summer. Next, they will meet with the masters of all the residential colleges in hopes of reaching freshmen through "fireside chats" in the colleges. Freshmen needing guidance and advice regarding sexual orientation issues will then learn how to get help from groups such as Pathways as well as from their counselors.

Timothy Dwight Dean John Loge, who is in charge of revamping next year's freshman orientation, said that there are two keys to effectively reaching students. First, the Sexual Orientation and Community Counselors must prepare an effective presentation that requires the audience to actively participate, since students will then be more likely to listen to and learn from workshops. Second, the counselors must find settings in which to stage the presentations.

Loge said he hopes that, in the future, the program will be able to branch out and reach a broader range of Yale students. "The focus shouldn't be just on orientation and shouldn't just be on freshmen," Loge said. "We want to reach all students."

But fully educating all students will be difficult. Loge pointed out that a careful balance must be struck between inadequate counseling and long-winded lecturing. "If we bring them too much they won't hear anything. Nobody has an easy answer," he admitted.

The Sexual Orientation and Community Counselors will especially focus on helping freshmen live comfortably with their roommates so that gay and lesbian freshmen do not have to worry about unwitting insults from their roommates, and heterosexual freshmen feel comfortable interacting with gay or lesbian roommates. These issues are especially important for freshmen because "there are a lot of people who come out their first year," Hammond said.

Hammond said Trachtenberg has been extremely supportive of the Sexual Orientation and Community Counselors. "We're going to be representatives of the Dean's Office," Hammond said. The group has applied for recognition as an official undergraduate organization.

Loge said that at a diverse place such as Yale, it is important for every group not only to feel comfortable but also to feel as if they belong. He said that he hopes such groups can learn from each other and benefit from exposure to one another, and that the differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals will eventually be "respected or even celebrated."

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