Brown and White Vol. 96 no. 21

              lafayette weekend issue the brown and white lehigh university bethlehem pennsylvania vol 96 — no 21 friday november 16 1984 215 861-4181 lu gay group founded by students by martina costello asst desk editor two students have founded an organi zation for homosexual and bisexual men and women of the lehigh university community under the guidance of the chaplain's office with chaplain hugh flesher acting as adviser the group which has yet to be named is in the process of deciding whether to seek official university recognition but in the meantime have accepted flesher's support at an organizational meeting last week sophomore ethan felson and jun ior cara slutter led a discussion among 10 other individuals regarding plans for a counseling-oriented group which will address the problems homosexuals and bisexuals encounter at home work and school according to felson the group is open to all members of the lehigh community including under graduate and graduate students faculty and staff we have representation from all four groups felson said member ship is open to homosexuals and suppor ters of homosexuals he added and the group now includes both according to felson and slutter the group plans to run the meetings in tradi tional agenda style with old and new business announcements and a rap ses sion at the end at their next meeting at the end of the month discussion will focus on creating a constitution defining the rap session and deciding whether to seek university recognition as a student organization which would make it eligi ble for university funding felson and slutter said their aim is to create an alcohol and drug-free atmos phere where gay men and women could socialize felson said many people at lehigh may feel as if they are alone con fronting the problems associated with homosexuality if there's one statment that this groups wants to make felson said it's that they aren't alone when arriving here felson said he saw the need to form a group slutter said she felt alienated and isolated when she arrived and added i know we have representation from . nndergrads grads faeulty and staff — ethan feuoiti eo founder of ram putt homosexual group that if there had been a group at lehigh freshman year i would have gone she cited the importance of providing a sense of community for gay men and women felson said one problem the group will address is the need for self-affirmation among the gay community there is a lack of role models for homosexuals he explained and the gay population should set up their own models to combat the limp-wristed swishing stereotypes depicted on television homosexuals are no different from heterosexuals but they do face certain problems dealing with a society that fre quently doesn't accept them he said homophobia the irrational fears atti tudes and resulting behaviors of those who react negatively to gays is the illness he said the cure is education tolerance and open-mindedness flesher stressed that a group goal i^in educate the public to combat homo phobic reactions and added that persons who react violently to homsexuals are often expressing fears or uncertainties of their own sexuality the idea to establish a homosexual group is not new flesher revealed and in the past the idea was not well received in the early 70's two members of theta chi fraternity attempted to establish a gay alliance but the group never grew because of a negative reaction from the administration the fraternity expelled both brothers from the house because its members felt it would affect their rush a few years later in a separate inci dent one of the two theta chi brothers and four or five others atempted to initiate another group to secure gay rights on campus and the brother voiced his opinions through an address to the forum flesher confirmed according to flesher there was a gread deal of shuddering in the upper reaches of the administration as to how the board of trustees would react and the idea sub sequently died flesher in his capacity as chaplain has served as a counselor for persons who are confused about their sexual orientation or who are trying to cope with problems associated with homosexual ity he said their problems fall into four categories conflict with their religious beliefs how to deal with their families raising a low self-confidence loveabil ity ; and how to feel at home with their homosexuality during the past three years 20 stu dents have sought his advice he con fided further flesher said that since he has been here he has also counseled approximately is faculty members and administrators some of whom are still here slutter and felson agreed it is difficult for gays and lesbians to be open about 2 fijis hit with criminal charges by karen schoonover assistant news editor two phi gamma delta fiji fraternity broth ers were arraigned wednesday afternoon before district magistrate john gombosi on charges of aggravated assault resulting from an incident dear the fraternity on nov 3 the two brothers junior john healy and senior scott lewis were involved in a late-night brawl that injured several students the fight began when unidentified members of the fraternity asked a non-lehigh student to leave a hotel party at their house the campus police filed the charges of aggra vated assault but i don't know all the details yet i do know it the assault was done with a hockey stick but that's all i know gombosi said they signed their own bail and i released them on their own recognizance according to investigating campus police officer edward shupp healy and lewis were read their rights taken before the magistrate and released according to dean of students john smeaton the university is seriously considering charges we're pretty certain charges will be coming out of this gombosi and shupp advised the accused to obtain legal counsel before their preliminary hearing scheduled for nov 29 at 9:30 a.m if they can't aflord an attorney they will be assigned a public defender gombosi said the normal three-to 10 period between arraign ment and preliminary hearing was waived by the students due to thanksgiving disorderly charges for theta delts two theta delta chi fraternity members were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct last weekend at the corner of fourth street and brodhead avenue according to a bethlehem police report the report stated that seniors terrence moran and edward hurst roommates at the fraternity were making loud noises and fighting hurst was also charged with harassment for allegedly pushing and choking one of the arresting officers moran and hurst refused to comment on the incident district magistrate john gombosi said they asked for a hearing to contest the charges they think it's not right and policemen sometimes make mistakes gombosi said associate dean of students robert cohen said monday night he would not speculate whether the university would pursue disciplinary action he did note however that the university reserves the right to bring disciplinary action against students even if civil charges are filed trottin b&w pholo by rob sternliebi the 31st annual turkey trot hosted a field of 615 finishers with faculty member eric williams trot ting past the pack with a mark of 1 5:1 1 over the 2.9-mile run gamma phi beta sorority gobbled up 1,356 points to take team honors see results page 5 see gay page 7