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University Tries to Defuse Dispute over Student Group
By Martin D. Snyder
Following the rejection by the Catholic University of America of a student application to form a campus chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Very Reverend David M. O'Connell, C.M., president of the university, and Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP, held what they both described as an "open, frank, candid, and respectful" meeting in June. The controversy between CUA and the NAACP made headline news earlier in the month.
The Washington Post reported that William Jawando, a graduating senior who originally petitioned for the chapter, had spent months trying to get the university to approve an NAACP chapter. He organized black and white students who supported the idea, lined up sociology professor Dean Hoge as faculty adviser, and got approval from the national NAACP. In April, however, he was told by university officials that permitting the chapter would be inconsistent with the university's mission and that of the Catholic Church. The NAACP has chapters at about 150 colleges and universities, including other Catholic institutions, such as Georgetown, Fordham, and St. John's universities.
CUA's director of public affairs, Victor Nakas, defended the university's decision on the grounds that there are already two organizations on campus representing African American students. An NAACP chapter, he told the Washington Post, "would cause redundancy and overlap." He added, however, that the NAACP's pro-choice stance "was a factor in the considerations. It's a factor we don't neglect because we steadfastly uphold the teachings of the Catholic church and would apply that rule to any student group." Last year, the university's bookstore canceled a book signing by Washington, D.C., congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton because of her prochoice advocacy.
Jawando, who plans to enter the university's law school this fall, found the university's argument about redundancy "disrespectful" and stated that the purpose for forming the chapter was "to do voter registration and raise awareness about the Novem-ber elections, not start a chapter of Planned Parenthood." He told the university that "we would not talk about anything pro-choice, but," he added, "it didn't matter." The school's administrators, Jawando said, "seemed almost happy to find that last reason. It gave them a better excuse."
According to the Washington Post, Mfume characterized the CUA decision as "blatant discrimination in its most naked form." He accused the university of imposing on black students "a quota system that is not applied to other students of other races." Mfume told a Washington television station, WUSA, that he believed the university unfairly rejected the petition for a campus chapter because the NAACP board of directors had recently supported a reproductive freedom march in Washington, although the NAACP officially takes a neutral position on abortion. Mfume told WUSA: "We're prepared to go to court, litigate for the rights of students: right to free association, and right to equal protection under the law."
The university disputed Mfume's characterization of the controversy. CUA's Nakas told the Washington Post: "For us, the issue is not an evaluation of the merits of the NAACP but the principle of our right and responsibility as a university to determine what groups we will or won't permit to be established. We don't simply accept every request to form a group presented by students simply because they think it's a good idea."
The June 16 meeting between O'Connell and Mfume left the decision about the NAACP campus chapter open for further review. As reported on the CUA Web site, O'Connell pledged to Mfume and Jawando several times "to meet personally with students when they return in the fall to reevaluate the original decision."
The Association, which since 1989 has had the Catholic University of America on its list of censured administrations, continues to monitor developments regarding the dispute.
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