Vote No protest going on outside my window

I would have to agree with the president of the university on this one.  Good for him for not getting involved in politics which have no bearing on whether or not a good education can be provided by his institution.

While I understand it has a strong community which is very opinionated on the matter it doesn't change the fact that they don't really need to be involved in this topic.  Furthermore, by not taking a stand on this topic he is exemplifying the "focus on diversity."  By not taking a position he is stating that it is acceptable either way according to the university; believe what you want and the university will not judge you. 

I would have to agree with the president of the university on this one.  Good for him for not getting involved in politics which have no bearing on whether or not a good education can be provided by his institution.

While I understand it has a strong community which is very opinionated on the matter it doesn't change the fact that they don't really need to be involved in this topic.  Furthermore, by not taking a stand on this topic he is exemplifying the "focus on diversity."  By not taking a position he is stating that it is acceptable either way according to the university; believe what you want and the university will not judge you. 

x2.  Regardless of the dean's/president's/chancellor's personal opinions it's best for the university to stay out of it.

I disagree. I think the University should take a stand here. 

Other private institutions are doing it (General Mills is a big one)

The United Methodist Church (our church at my school) is doing it. 

Other private universities are calling on their Board of Trustees to support this as well.

Our faculty just voted to request that our president take a stand.    As part of the official statement from the faculty, I like this part "WHEREAS the Minnesota "marriage amendment" would deny civil rights to members of our community:".

I disagree. I think the University should take a stand here. 

Other private institutions are doing it (General Mills is a big one)

The United Methodist Church (our church at my school) is doing it. 

Other private universities are calling on their Board of Trustees to support this as well.

Our faculty just voted to request that our president take a stand.    As part of the official statement from the faculty, I like this part "WHEREAS the Minnesota "marriage amendment" would deny civil rights to members of our community:".

I think it is the freewill of the people that should decide issues not organizations. 

General Mills has no business being in the argument, neither do the schools. 

I will agree that the church can weigh in on the topic.  They are pretty close to the issue after all.

As for the others, they should keep their noses out of it.  General Mills has no business being in the argument, neither do the schools. 

I'm OK with us having different opinions though, as long as you know yours is wrong!

You hate capitalism?

I would have to agree with the president of the university on this one.  Good for him for not getting involved in politics which have no bearing on whether or not a good education can be provided by his institution.

While I understand it has a strong community which is very opinionated on the matter it doesn't change the fact that they don't really need to be involved in this topic.  Furthermore, by not taking a stand on this topic he is exemplifying the "focus on diversity."  By not taking a position he is stating that it is acceptable either way according to the university; believe what you want and the university will not judge you. 

Or her is this case.....

Assuming the University does not vote, how is the University expressing an opinion, through its Board of Trustees, "deciding" anything?

Or her is this case.....

It just seems to me that the same people that are pressuring the school to support a political position that they support would be the first to protest against the institution for taking a stand on an issue if it choose to support a position that differed from their own.

It just seems to me that the same people that are pressuring the school to support a political position that they support would be the first to protest against the institution for taking a stand on an issue if it choose to support a position that differed from their own.

If the school took a stand against the issue, would the same people protest that the school has no business taking stands.

And I do not care what the issue is.  I am responding to this purely as I perceive in my opinion the role of a teaching facility to be and its primary focus. 

Purely on an academic level, I can see your point and I could see myself arguing the same if not IN the situation.

What is different here is that if the marriage amendment passed, it would be a really big step in the wrong direction for a key group of people at my school.    The LGBTQ community is not small here.  I think that lack of support might actually hurt their retention rates.   I think the community in general expects the school to back issues that include same-sex marriage.  I DO think it would be unreasonable if the nearby Catholic university had a similar protest.  So, it's because of what this particular PRIVATE school stands for, and spends so much time supporting, in addition to the related church having taken a stand - it just seems weird to be passive.

Btw, the president has agree to meet with a small group to discuss.  It's not for a few hours, and she's a fantastic rhetorician, so she might still stick with her decision.  We'll see.

Purely on an academic level, I can see your point and I could see myself arguing the same if not IN the situation.

What is different here is that if the marriage amendment passed, it would be a really big step in the wrong direction for a key group of people at my school.    The LGBTQ community is not small here.  I think that lack of support might actually hurt their retention rates.   I think the community in general expects the school to back issues that include same-sex marriage.  I DO think it would be unreasonable if the nearby Catholic university had a similar protest.  So, it's because of what this particular PRIVATE school stands for, and spends so much time supporting, in addition to the related church having taken a stand - it just seems weird to be passive.

Btw, the president has agree to meet with a small group to discuss.  It's not for a few hours, and she's a fantastic rhetorician, so she might still stick with her decision.  We'll see.

So the LGBT community is the important group and everyone else at the school can go hang?

Doesn't this assume that everyone else at the school is in favor of the amendment?

No it assumes that their opinions one way or the other don't matter.

How is that?  The faculty have apparently voted to ask the BoT to oppose it.  Some students, at least, apparently support BoT opposition.  Do you know something about how these other people at the university feel that hasn't been expressed in this thread?