UNC system President-elect Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education in the George W. Bush administration, now faces an official faculty request to show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer academic initiatives as she prepares to take office March 1.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Faculty Council on Feb. 19 approved a resolution requesting that Spellings, along with the UNC Board of Governors, pledge to sustain programs for gays and lesbians at the university.
“As faculty affiliated with the Program in Sexuality Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, we express our deep concern about the appointment of Margaret Spellings as President of the UNC system,” reads the statement from 32 faculty members. “We request that Ms. Spellings clarify her position on the use of public funds for LGBTQ-related academic content and institutional initiatives throughout the university system.”
Spellings has faced much disapproval from faculty and students since being hired last year, with some professors calling her “shockingly anti-gay,” and warning that she will attempt to suppress educational diversity once in office.
Much of the opposition stems from a 2005 controversy in which Spellings revoked public funding for a PBS children’s show that featured gay parents. Spellings defended her decision, saying that it was an issue of how to use taxpayer money, not a matter of her personal beliefs.
In a Feb. 12 address before the board, Spellings challenged the university to expand its socioeconomic and racial diversity, but made no comment about gay and lesbian issues within the system. Faculty members who signed the resolution called Spellings’ address “disturbingly unclear.”
“While the university is in the midst of important attempts to address appropriately the inclusion and support of varied and diverse populations, we call upon Ms. Spellings to reassure LGBTQ students, staff, and faculty by stating her support for LGBTQ communities and the study of LGBTQ issues at UNC,” the statement reads.
“Diminishing any of us only serves to diminish the university as a whole,” it continues. “Supporting us now will show that we are all, in fact, committed to a ‘complete sense of equality and belonging’ in our university system.”
Spellings has not addressed UNC’s gay and lesbian students and faculty directly, but said during her Feb. 12 remarks that she is surprised by the intensity of the criticism coming from both students and faculty.
“I look forward to meeting with, talking to, and learning from those who have questions about my record and my intentions,” she said. “When you get to know me, you’ll see that I am driven to provide education and opportunity for all.”