MU Faculty Council condemns curator’s comments

The MU Faculty Council at a meeting Thursday evening officially condemned comments about homosexual studies made by a member of the UM System Board of Curators.

The council passed a strongly worded resolution which called curator David Wasinger’s remarks “homophobic.” Wasinger made the statements at a Board of Curators meeting in Kansas City earlier this month.

Rex Campbell, the council’s chairman, said that Wasinger questioned several courses involving ‘queer theory,’ saying the revenue used to support those courses could be better used to improve math and science programs.

Queer theory is a relatively new field of academic thought that grew out of gay and lesbian studies.

Wilson Watt, chairman of the council’s Standing Committee on Diversity Enhancement, said Wasinger later made comments about events funded by student fees at the University of Missouri-St. Louis that some students interpreted as derogatory statements. He did not give details about the comments.

Members of the council had reservations over the use of strong language, but Watt defended the wording.

“This is a resolution that was generated by a specific action of a specific person,” Watt said.

Watt said that passing a “bland, namby-pamby resolution” in a case such as this would be useless. He also said that the council will take further action on the issue in the future.

“I don’t see any reason why this should be all we do about any diversity issue,” he said.

Wasinger issued a written statement following a similar resolution the UMSL Faculty Senate passed in response to student concerns.

“I mentioned that someone had sent me information in which the University of Missouri is apparently sponsoring courses and programs entitled ‘Queer Theory’ and ‘Pick the Queer,’ ” Wasinger said in a written statement. “On their face, these course descriptions appear to be demeaning to homosexuals. More importantly, I noted that the university has chemistry labs that are in dire need of repair, and inquired whether our limited resources would be better spent on other programs such as math and sciences.”

Watt said that, though there was no direct expression of concern from MU students, the council decided to draft the resolution because of concerns of the MU faculty and UMSL students.

In addition to condemning Wasinger’s remarks, the resolution expresses the MU faculty’s commitment to diversity on the university campus.

“The Faculty Council of the University of Missouri-Columbia objects to all forms of bigotry and discrimination, including homophobia, expressed by any member of the University community,” the resolution states.

Wasinger declined to comment on MU’s resolution, saying he had not seen the document.