Club chants charge campus
Eloisa Ruano Gonzalez and Mark Stock
Issue date: 2/17/06 Section: News
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After the game against St. Mary's ended Feb. 6, the controversy surrounding the Kennel Club's chanting sparked discussions and widespread discontent among faculty and students. Many urged University officials to take action.
The national press took notice.
Some faculty are pushing administrators to organize forums or a task force to explore the incident, so as to avoid similar ones, Laura Brunell, assistant professor of Political Science and Women's Studies, said.
Though their intent was to be funny and not hurt anyone, the students, however, hurt others, Dale Goodwin, public relations director, said.
"It raised a very important issue about honoring the dignity of every human being," Goodwin said.
From campus reactions, as well as the national audience the media reached, the Kennel Club learned a vital lesson, Goodwin said.
The Associated Press released an article that began appearing last week in more than 30 online national news outlets, according to a Google.com search launch.
"This [game's incident] is extremely distressing to us and to many of the faculty, staff and students who are proud of the principled traditions that Gonzaga embodies," top GU officials said in a letter addressed to the campus community.
In response to the incident, University President the Rev. Robert Spitzer, S.J., has appointed a task force, Goodwin said. The organization will look at the campus climate, honoring of human dignity and issues that may affect marginalized groups campus.
The campus continue to wait for an official apology from the Kennel Club. Officials hope to increase diversity tolerance on campus.
"I think [the] discussion the University community is now engaged in is very healthy and overdue," Kennel Club adviser David Lindsay said, who also is director of Student Activities.
Students and professors alike have been discussing the incident in depth for the last week. There have been extensive electronic discussions among professors on campus, according to Brunell.
Senior Brady Smith and 15 other students passed out ribbons to promote tolerance before Saturday's game.
"Gonzaga is not unique in having homophobia," Brunell said. "We are a mirror of society."
To improve tolerance and increase support, Gonzaga officials have announced they will continue to staff the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Center, which is located in the basement of the Unity House. GLBT Center, comprising of students and AmeriCorps volunteers, offers resources to gay students, as well as their friends and family members.
Gonzaga fans were encouraged to show respect and act according to the University's Code of Ethics at the Stanford game the following Saturday, a nationally televised event.
"Everything went incredibly well," Lindsay said, "and I see nothing about our students' actions at that game in the media."