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Catholic Georgetown University to Fully Fund Campus Gay Center

Co-president of GU Pride, Scott Chessare, responded by exclaiming “We won!”

By Hilary White 

WASHINGTON, DC October 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The president of prestigious Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in the United States, has promised homosexual activists that the school will fully fund a center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and “questioning” (LGBTQ) students by next fall. The pro-homosexual nature of the center is rejection of what is considered a serious Catholic moral teaching.
 
President John DeGioia told media, “How do we respond to legitimate requests for a more supportive environment? We can continue to do this in a somewhat informal manner … or we can move forward in a more organized way, through more formal and institutional structures and processes. In this case, it is time for the latter.”
 
On Wednesday October 24, DeGioia spoke to an audience of students and faculty expressing his “sadness” that Georgetown has too often been “hostile” toward the homosexual community. The campus newspaper, The Hoya, confirmed in an editorial that DeGioia “repeatedly committed himself” to each of the demands made by the campus homosexual activist group GU Pride.
 
DeGioia said, “At a Catholic and Jesuit university, [we] cannot advocate for policies or practices that are counter to Catholic teaching. Part of my responsibility as an administrator … is to ensure that nothing can compromise the integrity of our mission and identity.”
 
The co-president of GU Pride, Scott Chessare, responded by exclaiming “We won!”
 
“I don’t think we would have believed less than two months ago that there would be so much institutional change in such a short amount of time,” he added.
 
The announcement comes in response to an upsurge of pressure from homosexual activists on campus that began after a Georgetown sophomore was arrested for assaulting another student early on the morning of September 9. The incident is being treated as a “homophobic hate crime.”
 
Since the alleged hate crime assault, GU Pride has increased pressure on the University to “eliminate” what they consider the college’s “intolerance” of homosexuality. The group sponsored a week of activism, including marches, called “Coming Out Week.” Gay activists made a number of demands to be met by November 9, including a full-time staff member for their “LGBTQ” resource center.
 
“Our demands are very reasonable, and some of the demands have been around for more than six years,” GU Pride co-president Scott Chessare told the Georgetown Voice.
 
Support for the group was strong on campus and included demands from four faculty professors and an editorial in the Georgetown Voice that said, “All students should show their support for an LGBTQ resource center and increased diversity training by e-mailing DeGioia at president.georgetown.edu to show that these are mainstream demands that the University should take seriously.”
 
The editorial continued, “If the University fails to act by this date, GU Pride should look to more direct means of enacting change.”
 
The incident follows years of criticism from faithful Catholics that Georgetown has lost its Catholic nature. In September this year, Georgetown was at the center of another scandal in which it was revealed that its law school was funding students to engage in pro-abortion lobbying with agencies such as Planned Parenthood.
 
In 2006, Georgetown University Law Center honoured the notorious abortion crusader, Jesuit Fr. Robert Drinan, by naming a new faculty chair for human rights after him.

To express concerns:
Georgetown University
37th and O Street, NW
Washington, DC 20057
(202) 687-0100


To respectfully contact Washington Archbishop Weurl:
(The archbishop has the sole authority to grant or withdraw the "Catholic" designation from any institution in his diocese)

The Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl
Archdiocese of Washington
P.O. Box 29260
Washington, DC 20017-0260
301-853-4500
 
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

SHOCKER: Catholic Georgetown U. Will Now Fund Law Students to Lobby for Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092605.html
 
Georgetown, “Catholic” University Honours Abortion Crusading Jesuit
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102506.html

Bishop Warns College May Lose Catholic Name for Not Cancelling Pro-Abortion Groups in Conference
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07101105.html

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