Brody's Notes... UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Reacts To "Hurtful & Condescending" Anti-Gay E-mail To Student

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) OCT 14 | The University of Wisconsin's Eau Claire campus student newspaper, The Spectator, reported today that the University's Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich, told the paper that he plans on taking immediate administrative action following a furor that erupted over an e-mail exchange last month.

In the Spectator article by student reporters Thomas Fountain and BreAnn Schossow, Chancellor Stanevich told a meeting of the University's Senate Tuesday he will address the remarks made in the Department Chair's e-mail to the student organiser of the LGBTQ Film Festival.

The incident stems from e-mails between Professor Tom Hilton, chairman of the university's information systems department, and senior Crystal Kazik beginning on Sept. 23.

Kazik, a Women's Studies major, had written an e-mail distributed to UWEC faculty department chairs asking for their support for the LGBTQ Film Festival to be held on the campus at the Davies Theatre.

Hilton responded to Kazik's e-mail on the 24th stating;

"I decry attempts to legitimize (homosexuals') addictions and compulsions. These, our fellow humans, deserve our best efforts to help them recover their lives. We only hurt them further when we choose to pretend that these walking wounded are OK the way they are, that their present injuries are the best they can hope for in life."

Speaking with The Spectator's Fountain & Schossow, Hilton said he chose to respond to Kazik's message out of respect and to acknowledge that he had received the message.

"The other reason was to let her know that there's at least one person on campus, and I supposed that there are more, actually, I know that there are more," he said. "But I'm one person on campus who really doesn't agree with this presently prevalent approach to the issue of homosexual behavior."

The Spectator reports that in his statement, chancellor Levin-Stankevich said that the issue will be addressed within the administration, while respecting due process and the rights of all involved individuals.

"It is our responsibility to address the appropriateness of the time and place of expression and whether the intent or result of the speech inhibits the educational process with which we as faculty and staff are entrusted," he said.