Will the University of Alaska Finally Stand Up to Anti-Gay Discrimination?

by Michael Jones · 2011-02-14 09:00:00 UTC
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Students, activists and faculty members have put pressure on the University of Alaska system for years to expand their anti-discrimination policies to include protections on the basis of sexual orientation. And for years, the University of Alaska Board of Regents has rejected these calls, and ignored efforts to address anti-gay discrimination.

That soon may be about to change.

This week the Board of Regents will meet again, and once more they'll look at whether the University of Alaska system should expand their nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation. This time, in addition to students and activists weighing in, the President of the University of Alaska, Pat Gamble, has added a heavy institutional voice in favor of expanding the nondiscrimination policy.

“With the elimination of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ from the military, the trend is clear," President Gamble said in a statement sent to the Board of Regents. “The time has come to acknowledge this protection explicitly."

Better late than never, right?

Students within the university system are also speaking out about anti-gay discrimination, and urging the Board of Regents to revise the official policy to be inclusive of sexual orientation. The University of Alaska Fairbanks student body president, Nikki Carvajal, told the News Miner that student leaders have been clamoring for this change for quite some time. That the Board of Regents will take up the matter later this week is a huge deal.

“This is a big deal that they’re going to consider this,” Carvajal said. “We’re really excited that they’re finally talking about it.”

You can send the Board of Regents a message, letting them know that the nation's eyes are watching their move on this issue. Meanwhile, let's hope this discussion opens up space for a broader discussion in the community around anti-LGBT discrimination. As Change.org's Brandon Miller wrote a few weeks ago, activists in Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, are gearing up for a political fight to add sexual orientation to their city's nondiscrimination policy. Here's hoping they can take a victory within the University of Alaska system, and use it as momentum for another victory later this year.

Photo credit: jkbrooks85

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.

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