A proposal to add gender identity to MSU's anti-discrimination policy was sent back to the committee that developed it Tuesday after MSU President M. Peter McPherson had questions.
The proposal was approved by the Academic Council in late February - the last step before making it to MSU's Board of Trustees. The board's approval would make the proposal official university policy.
McPherson sent a memo to the Executive Committee of Academic Council outlining five specific questions, and saying "not only must the proposed change be clear in terms of its protections, we also have an obligation to assure that if a person is going to be charged with discrimination, the rule must have enough clarity for common understanding, or it is not fair to those being charged."
Matt Weingarden, ASMSU Student Assembly chairperson and a member of the special committee, said it was a letdown after the proposal made it through Academic Council but hit a wall at McPherson - but it wasn't unexpected.
"A number of administrators have chosen not to look at the documents and the facts, but have rather chosen personal opinions related to the implementation of this policy," Weingarden said.
The proposal was brought to Academic Governance more than a year ago when ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, decided it was necessary the term "gender identity" be added in the list of categories to protect against discrimination and harassment.
The Board of Trustees should understand the issue by now, Weingarden said.
"There's not enough understanding in the board because the president and the provost have chosen not to educate the board," he said.
Trustee Joel Ferguson said the board needs a better grasp on the issue before they can make a decision.
"We're not up to speed," he said. "It's pretty hard for us to make a decision on that because I don't think we're that educated. Someone has to come in and really talk about it, then people can make a decision."
Weingarden said if anyone didn't understand the issue, they could simply look to the many resources on campus. Gender identity is the topic of discussion in many women's studies classes, he said.
Natalie Furrow, chairperson of the Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgendered and Straight Ally Students, said the issue is too important for the administration to ignore.
"It's ridiculous," she said. "We have spent plenty of time educating every administrator on this campus. We've spent time educating the Board of Trustees and there's been massive student support."
Staff writer Melissa Sanchez contributed to this report.
