We bother Devon Quinn '13 about what she's listening to this week.

To the Editor:

Re: “Enlightened, At Least From My Perspective,” Opinion, Nov. 4

Zach Murray’s ’10 statement at the program house panel, “white students don’t have to think about diversity,” was expressed as a result of what I deem a growing frustration that he, I and many other students of color on this campus feel because of the inability or lack of effort on the part of many — not all — of the majority white community at empathizing with the minority experience.

In yet another example of the tension between “intellectual diversity” and “universal inclusion,” Cornell is currently atwitter over some controversial behavior by the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship. Last week, news spread that Chi Alpha had asked one of its student leaders to step down because of his sexual orientation. The student had apparently succumbed to his homosexual urges and elected to live in sin with his boyfriend. Jesus would not approve.

Cornellians have since come out in droves against Chi Alpha. At a Student Assembly meeting last Thursday, everyone from Chris Basil ’10 to Dean of Students Kent Hubbell ’67 spoke out against the Christian group, claiming that rights had been violated and homophobia essentially endorsed by an SAFC-sponsored organization.

Here’s my take on stereotypes: If you were to take the Taylor expansion of human behavior, stereotypes would be the zeroeth order term. They neither fail to take into account any variation within the group they label nor do they describe anything dynamic. But you have to admit, they’re often close to the mark.

The fact is, stereotypes are fun, and like amoral social scientists and OCD biologists, I occasionally enjoy a good-ol’ fashion exercise in taxonomy. So I want to talk about the stereotypes of the Cornell University gay scene. Every college or university has one, and within Cornell, each school has one, but are all gay scenes created equal? I think not.

On March 2, 2009 at a forum to discuss the Asian and Asian American Center (A3C), President Skorton, in response to a question about the future of program houses and safe spaces suggested that “program houses have to show enough interest to justify those expenses.” Skorton’s statement that students “should vote with their feet” is a popular argument used to hold students solely accountable for the future of their resources in a manner that absolves the University of its responsibility to preserve those resources. An issue as complex as program houses cannot be addressed with a dismissive attitude.

“If we are to continue to lead, we must continue to seek and nurture exceptional talent without regard to gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status or other characteristics that too often divide us.”

—“An Update on Gender Equality,” President Skorton, The Sun, March 9

I doubt President Skorton’s reaffirmation of meritocracy came as a surprise to anyone. Indeed, such is expected from the president of a major academic institution. Puzzling, however, are his further comments on the state of the University.