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Dear ARLIS/NA Colleagues: More then ever this is the time to make diversity happen in our profession and in our institutions. As an incoming chairperson I will definitely be attending the Diversity Forum and encourage others to do so as well. http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/03/2003031302n.htm (See article included below.) I am happy to report that there is a large protest rally happening right now on the VATech campus in opposition to the BOV's decisions. - Heather Virginia Tech Bans Speakers With Extreme Views and Relaxes Antidiscrimination Clause By MEGAN ROONEY The governing board of Virginia Tech voted on Monday to bar advocates of extreme political views from speaking on the campus. Under the new policy, student groups must seek the president's approval if they wish to invite speakers who support or take part in activities that could be construed as "domestic violence or terrorism." At the same meeting, the Board of Visitors voted to change the university's antidiscrimination clause so that it no longer prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Those decisions were made at the same quarterly meeting on Monday at which the governing board effectively ended the use of affirmative action in admissions, hiring, and financial aid (The Chronicle, March 12). "That meeting was an unbelievable step backward," said Edd Sewell, who, as president of the Faculty Senate at Virginia Tech, is a nonvoting member of the Board of Visitors. "I have been reading a book about Germany in the 1930s, and I almost feel like I'm experiencing deja vu." Neither the resolution concerning political extremists nor the resolution about sexual orientation was listed on the agenda that was made available to board members before the meeting. The resolution concerning political speakers on the campus follows a February speech given by a member of Earth First, an environmental group that advocates such tactics as preventing logging by sitting in trees or chaining oneself to a logging site. According to Lawrence G. Hincker, a spokesman for the university, that speech raised the ire of a group of professors from the department of forestry. Furthermore, the member of the Board of Visitors who introduced the resolution, Mitchell O. Carr, is president of the Augusta Lumber Co., based in Waynesboro, Va., and is a former director of the National Hardwood Lumber Association. Mr. Carr did not return telephone calls for comment, and Charles W. Steger, the university's president, also was not available. The resolution reads in part: "Be it resolved, no person, persons, or organizations will be allowed to meet on campus or in any facility owned or leased by the university, if it can be determined that such persons or organizations advocate or have participated in illegal acts of domestic violence and terrorism." While the resolution does not define domestic violence and terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Web Site includes a spectrum of political groups in its description of domestic terrorism, including white-supremacy organizations and socialist organizations like the Workers' World Party and Carnival Against Capitalism. It also cites the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front, two groups whose representatives have spoken at Virginia Tech during the past two years. The university is currently reviewing the resolution with the office of the state attorney general to ensure its legality, particularly regarding the Constitutional guarantees of free speech, free assembly, due process, and equal protection. In an editorial decrying the resolution, the student newspaper, Collegiate Times, describes the measure's language as "irrefutably ambiguous," and says it "could be applied to many speakers and organizations that have visited Tech's campus in recent years." The board also removed sexual orientation from the list of factors -- including race, sex, and national origin -- that the university will not use to discriminate against students, faculty members, and applicants. Mr. Hincker said the board made the change to conform Virginia Tech's rules with federal and state laws, which do not include gay and lesbian people as a protected class of citizens. On Tuesday, as academic departments met to discuss the pivotal changes enacted by the Board of Visitors, one professor described the campus mood as "a brewing storm." "We're still trying to figure out exactly what happened," the professor said. "We're sort of astounded." _________________________________________________________________ You may visit The Chronicle as follows: http://chronicle.com Heather Ball Art and Architecture Librarian Virginia Tech 302 Cowgill Hall Blacksburg, VA 24061-0206