GALA denied home in MCC

By Matthew Meyerhofer

Despite their efforts to gain an office and expand resources, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) will not become a part of Santa Clara's Multicultural Center (MCC) any time soon.

"The purpose of the MCC is to rid the community of stereotypes and to educate the community on issues relating to diversity," said freshman Joshua Crosson, GALA's chief spokesperson. "The organization took a large step back with refusing GALA to join."

GALA members hoped that as the MCC went through the re-chartering process, the MCC would restructure their organization in a way that would permit GALA and other on-campus gay and lesbian organizations to join. Becoming a part of an organization such as the MCC would have given GALA additional resources and connections to combat the discrimination of minority students.

Several members of GALA believe that the goals of the MCC and GALA are very similar and that it makes sense for the two organizations to join forces. Senior Corey Morris, one of the student contacts for GALA, said that the two organizations have parallel missions.

"Queer culture has a stake in uncovering heterosexist privilege in the same way that ethnic cultures have a stake in unmasking white privilege," said Morris.

Under the current MCC constitution, minority student organizations seeking inclusion must have a mission focused on "the unique expression and appreciation of the different cultures of people of color." This wording is intended to preserve the original intent of the founding members of the MCC, whose mission was to provide a place where students of ethnic minority could express themselves culturally without constraint.

GALA hoped to overcome this obstacle by getting the MCC to change their charter, as MCC is up for re-chartering this year.

The re-chartering committee-comprised of faculty, staff, and students- looks at all areas of the organization in consideration and makes recommendations about whether or not the group's charter should be changed. Eventually, the recommendations are passed along to Dean of Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger, who makes the decision whether or not to renew the charter and whether or not to stipulate any changes that need to be made. However, no mention of including GALA will be made in the committee's recommendation.

Raquel Hackley, the advisor to the MCC Programming Board (MCCPB), said that the MCC considered GALA's appeal. MCC members talked about the issue of expanding which Santa Clara student groups should gain support from the MCC, but there are several students in the MCC leadership that want to be more inclusive.

"At this current time the decision was made to keep the charter the same with the definition of ethnic minority for many reasons," said Hackley, "But primarily because they didn't feel at this time they were fulfilling their own mission and goals, so how could they bring someone else into their midst?"

GALA hosted a faculty-student panel about the possibilities and benefits of creating an alliance between the MCC and GALA in January, two months before the re-chartering committee was formed. While a formal proposal for including GALA in the MCC was drafted in the fall, it was never submitted to either the MCC or the re-chartering committee.

Nevertheless, many GALA students are upset and disappointed that his or her requests have not been adopted, and they wonder what kind of message this will send to others.

"What kind of message have we sent to them with this decision?" said Morris, who sees a need for sensitivity of current gay and lesbian students that are affiliated with MCC. "I think GALA could be a real unifying point within the MCC."

Despite their failure to gain acceptance in the MCC, GALA still intends to move forward with plans to present homosexuality as a culture, which would move them closer to the MCC's requirements.

Crosson said that this development is crucial in order to assist people in understanding what GALA is really about.

"People don't see homosexuality as a culture, but rather a street in San Francisco and a drag show in the beginning of the year," said Crosson. "The people who had the power to let GALA into the group were among the people not educated in defining queer as culture."

GALA intends to continue growing at SCU, and while they won't have an office in the MCC, SCCAP has agreed to lend them space so they will have an office to work out of. As for future inclusion in the MCC, the re-chartering process will happen again in another five years, and the executive board retains the power to amend their constitution when they see fit.

"Maybe in the future, as we get ourselves more together and create greater solidarity around who we are and what we propose to be, we can take on more," said Hackley.