@samianrosen
p.s. I read a stat recently that said [insert majority statistic] of bloggers stop after 8 posts. Promising myself I'll hit the hurdle!
*****
To: President Casteen, President-Elect Sullivan, Mr. Wynne, Mr. Abramson, and the Editor of the Cavalier Daily,
As a member of the party that is most commonly associated with policies and rhetoric that rely on (and glorify) free markets, Ken Cuccinelli seems to have missed the point: Universities like UVA compete in the marketplace for students, professors, administrators, and staff. It's beyond dispute that LGBT individuals contribute greatly to our culture and artistic development, our base of scientific and mathematical knowledge, and play important roles as full members of our society in a multitude of ways. History is replete with examples like Alan Turing, where the prejudices of the few deprived the many of the continued contributions of brilliant individuals. Perhaps in recognition that "[g]reat spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds," competitive academic instutions like UVA have put policies and procedures in place to ensure that the LGBT community would feel welcome and safe -- not only because they felt it was the right thing to do, but because of the prospective advantage over other institutions that did not have such policies. Peer institutions quickly followed suit. The market has spoken -- and for UVA to follow Attorney General Cuccinelli's advice and strip these protections would leave UVA at a market disadvantage.
To add insult to injury, it does not take a lawyer to see the flaws in the AG's legal "reasoning." The Virginia Human Rights Act certainly sets out a floor for what the state will protect at the state level for all persons, but does not expressly prohibit localized protections of a non-general nature. The AG uses examples (no court cases - only other opinions of those previously in his position) of certain localities enacting ordinances that affect all people in the geographic scope of the locality enacting them -- even a non-lawyer can see why this not an apt comparison. An ordinance of Fairfax County affects everyone in Fairfax county -- visitors, guests, residents, business owners and workers, people passing through from the rest of the state that may have no connection to Fairfax County. By contrast, UVA's policies protect those that have contracts (be they employment contracts, supplier contracts, or the contract formed between the institution and each student when tuition money is exchanged for education) with the University. Cuccinelli's claim that UVA is somehow creating a new protected class only points out how narrow his focus is - UVA's policy also protects heterosexuals against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (and therefore applies equally to ALL affiliated with the University). While it may not be common knowledge that the LGBT community has its own set of epithets to refer to heterosexuals in a derogatory fashion, they nonetheless exist, and are likewise prohibited under UVA's current policies.
Lastly, the state has provided an express grant of power for a governing body of an educational institution to "establish rules and regulations for the conduct of students while attending such institution" and to "establish rules and regulations for the employment of professors, teachers, instructors, and all other employees. . ." Virginia Code § 23-9.2:3. UVA has done exactly that -- and should be left to continue doing so in peace.
Respectfully,
Samuel I. Rosen
Comm '07
