It's been over a decade since Tufts Students Against Discrimination (TSAD) occupied Bendetson Hall to protest religious exclusion, demanding the administration affirm and uphold the TCU non-discrimination policy. Today, the contravention of that policy is not only institutionalized - it's flaunted as a somehow natural and obvious characteristic of religious communities.
The contentious campus-wide discussion inspired by TSAD's spiritual successor, the Coalition Against Religious Exclusion (CARE) of which I am a member, has shown that the justification for creating exceptions to what ought to be an exception-less policy is anything but "common sense." The Committee on Student Life (CSL) ruled in December that student religious groups can now be granted the opportunity to apply for a doctrinally "justified departure" from the non-discrimination policy. We in CARE have since initiated guerilla advertising operations, engaged direct action at TCU Senate hearings, developed solidarity campaigns and this week held a campus-wide teach-in.
"The CSL decision and the events surrounding it are complex and nuanced," junior Jordan Dashow noted at the teach-in event. Dashow described the teach-in as an educational enterprise, one that would "[provide] a forum for people to ask questions." Essentially joint community forums and panel discussions, teach-ins also had a role in the movement to institutionalize Africana Studies. Both the CARE teach-in and the Novermber 2011 "What is Africana Studies?" teach-in offered historical context and illuminated the repetitive, feet-dragging administrative resistance to their ambitions. Organizers at CARE's event distributed copies of its 14-page Factbook, "Justifiable Discrimination," detailing CARE's history and mission.
Not only CARE supporters and curious bystanders, but also university professors and TCU senators attended the event. Events like these not only drum up vital community support, but they help light the fires beneath those connected to the administration to begin working towards change.
TCU Senate Women's Center representative Grainne Griffiths referred to a resolution declaring the CSL policy to be in violation of the Pachyderm and another challenging it as counter to Tufts' mission, both of which were voted in overwhelmingly by the TCU senate several weeks ago.
"Several senators are currently working diligently to bring these resolutions to faculty and administrators at Tufts who have the power to eliminate the policy," she said.
TSAD's 2000 Bendetson sit-in ended when then-University President DiBaggio offered a statement supporting the non-discrimination policy's integrity and decrying the notion of "practicing homosexuality". But religious exclusion didn't end - and DiBaggio's statement turned out to be an insultingly minute result from extraordinary action.
In CARE, we're looking to cause a stronger, more sustained earthquake. As other universities enact policies similar to that of the CSL and juggle parallel controversies, the already widely publicized events at Tufts could be the precedent for national change on collegiate religious life. "[At the teach-in,] we got to remind people that this is a national conversation," CARE member Brandon Archambault, a senior, said. "People are watching Tufts, and we can now set an example for good or ill, either making space for the plurality of religious identities, or, as the CSL decision makes clear, denying them."
CARE has emerged to empower a group of already oppressed people who are being further marginalized, even as we try to become an integral part of the on-campus moral community. As stated in the Factbook, CARE's goal is "to create a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for students of all identities." This is only possible through a strong, non-discrimination policy without caveats. And it takes the will and spirit of daring student activists to keep that policy strong.
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Walker Bristol is a junior majoring in religion and political science. He can be reached at walker.bristol@tufts.edu
