At Elmhurst College, Sexual Orientation is “Do Ask, Do Tell”

It’s your senior year and you are beginning the process of applying to colleges to attend once you graduate. Throughout the stressful process, you are faced with deadlines, paperwork, essays, and… questions on your sexuality? Well, maybe not all of us were faced with the last one, but students applying to Elmhurst College in Illinois certainly were.

The first institution to do such, Elmhurst asks its applicants, among many other questions, “Would you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community?” The new question has certainly raised quite a response, both in and out of the Elmhurst community.

Dean of Students at Elmhurst, Gary Rold, argues that the question is nothing more than an attempt to get to know the students better.

He aims to uphold the school’s mission statement; “Elmhurst College inspires its students to form themselves intellectually and personally and to prepare for meaningful and ethical work in a multicultural, global society.”

The optional question aspires to collect students that all aim to foster a community that is both diverse and tolerant.

But not all students may be comfortable answering such a question and when acceptance to a school is hanging in the balance, some students may feel pressured to answer a certain way, to cater to what they think the school wants to hear- thus not being honest with the school or themselves.

Also, those students who are not yet comfortable with their sexual orientation, may omit the truth, while inversely others may lie, answering “yes” to unfairly gain access to scholarships offered.

It would then fall upon the school to ensure the integrity of those students applying for the scholarship.

While the question, and more importantly the answer received, does not affect the admissions status of Elmhurst’s applicant pool, I have to wonder whether or not an institution should be able to inquire about a person’s sexual orientation.

As a member of the LGBT community, I personally feel that it is acceptable for an institution of higher education to inquire about a student’s demographic, as long as that inquiry is non-obligatory; however, not all students are comfortable being open about their sexual orientation. The problem arises when the question is no longer optional, or when the answers determine the admissions status of the student.

In Elmhurst however, the answer is as straight-forward as “yes,” “no,” or “prefer not to answer.” CEO of Chicago’s Center on Halsted, Modesto Tico Valle points out that, “As our society continues to become more open and welcoming to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, it makes sense that institutions are giving individuals more opportunities to express their diversity.” But not all people are as optimistic as Valle.

At the University of Tampa, we are given plenty of ways to express ourselves as individuals, Director of Enrollment, Brent Benner says “We at the University of Tampa do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, so in that sense, it really doesn’t matter as far as admissions or life on campus as a UT student.

Since it has no academic or student life relevance, I personally see no value in asking such a question.” Unlike Valle, Mr. Benner does believe such a question is necessary, or relevant.

While searching the web to find out a little bit more about this issue, I stumbled upon an article telling the story of Elmhurst, underneath the article was a public forum for readers to post their opinions on the issue.

Many people seemed not to have a problem with the question being asked, but rather the focus became that LGBT students would qualify for scholarship money.

David E. Smith, executive director of Illinois Family Institute emulated this attitude by saying in a statement, “In defending their decision to include a question about ‘sexual orientation,’ by asserting an offensive and absurd comparison of race to a condition constituted by subjective desire and volitional sexual acts, Elmhurst College administrators reveal their own ignorance.”

Cutting through the fancy wording, if I am not mistaken, Smith is calling sexual orientation a choice, one that the members of the LGBT community make willingly, and he deems that ‘choice’ unworthy of the same financial assistance that men and women of difference races might receive.

But I bet he would be hard pressed to find anyone who identifies themselves as LGBT, to agree that their sexual orientation is a choice.

Since when did anyone “choose” to be treated differently? Sexual orientation is not something that can be cured, ebbed or fixed as he suggests (though some people, such as Presidential Candidate Senator Michelle Bachmann may disagree).

Some members on the forum had an issue with scholarships being granted because of sexual orientation and criticized the idea, going as far as saying that sooner or later students will no longer need to work towards a degree. I want to remind everyone that scholarships are there to provide students (because that is what we all are) the means to a higher education. It is during our time at an institution that we “earn a degree.”

Ask any college student around; the work is still there, the bills at the end of the road are just a bit easier to bear. Also, consider this: it is acceptable for students of different ethnicities to receive financial aid/ awards based on their color. Correct?

Then why is it unacceptable for students of a different sexual orientation, who are a minority mind you, to receive aid? Is that not a hypocritical view?

Did you know that there are scholarships for such things as being left handed. So, those students in universities seeking aid, taking advantage of such scholarships, will (to quote one poster) “not earn a scholarship through grades, activities and hard work,” but rather are being lazy and seeking “stars and smiles” as mentioned above? This just seems ignorant.

Smith, and many others on the forum believe that Elmhurst’s comparison of students who identify themselves as LGBT to ethnic minorities is wrong. They do not believe that the LGBT community, to quote one poster, “deserves special treatment” because of their sexual orientation.

My challenge is this, what is, if not a minority, the LGBT community? Isn’t a minority a group that makes up the lesser part of a whole? So then, where does this community not make the cut?  And what about Elmhurst’s actions qualifies as ignorant, Mr. Valle?

Obviously, this issue can become very sticky, very quickly, but I believe that the efforts of Elmhurst College to reach out to the LGBT community are a commendable attempt to recognize the increasingly accepted group.

I am not so sure when this issue became solely about scholarships, it is neither the point nor the most important piece of this article. It’s about allowing those who are LGBT to feel comfortable at an institution that fosters diversity. This isn’t politics; It’s a step forward for a growing community of people.

Taylor Whitcomb can be reached at taylor.whitcomb@spartans.ut.edu.