Thursday, March 11, at 1 p.m. Northeastern Illinois University students are walking out of their classes in support of equal rights for all students, staff and faculty on campus. This past fall, amid much controversy, the gay student group on campus hosted a Coming Out Ball for the community. Although the event was successful, students feel that gays and lesbians on campus are still stigmatized and face homophobia at NEIU. Students are unhappy with the policies in place and feel the climate is not safe for gay students and other minority groups. ‘Students want Northeastern to stop economically profiting from students’ diversity and instead celebrate that diversity through education, actually that will bring a better profit-we all can gain from that,’ said NEIU student Heather Kapolnek states. Students are rallying to support domestic-partner benefits for queer faculty and staff, demanding gay resources be made available on campus and encouraging the NEIU administration to invest in a diversity education program that all professors, public safety officers and administrators would be required to attend.
After a gay-rights demonstration in November became a borderline riot, Northeastern’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Alliance (GLBA) handed the administration a list of demands which instructed the administration to enforce some current policies, change others and educate the NEIU community on GLBT issues. The NEIU administration is citing monetary concerns and questioning the necessity of the policy changes and educational programs.
Robin Matthies, president of the GLBA student group, said she is shocked by the NEIU administration’s unwillingness to take hate speech and possible hate crimes seriously, ‘This past year at NEIU there have been numerous examples of hatred targeting GLBT students,’ she said. Matthies and other members of the GLBA have been meeting weekly with administrators but feel like they are getting the ‘run around.’