After a half-decade of debate, University officials announced last week that domestic partners of homosexual employees will have access to the same benefits awarded to married couples.
President Nan Keohane endorsed the new policy in a letter last week to Toby Kahr, associate vice president of human resources. The change grants partners of homosexual employees access to such services as insurance, health care and use of University recreational facilities. Employees may sign up for the benefits beginning later this year.
"The most pressing argument for extending these benefits is our desire to live up to our policy of nondiscrimination," Keohane wrote in the Jan. 3 letter. "Our failure to provide these benefits puts us at a disadvantage with other institutions with which we compete for outstanding faculty and staff."
Keohane's decision fulfills recommendations from a 1990 committee appointed by former president Keith Brodie to study the University's record on nondiscrimination. About 30 colleges and universities nationwide have already implemented domestic partner policies.
Members of the gay, lesbian and bisexual employee community praised the new policy for both its intangible and tangible effects.
"It's important for its symbolic value, for validating and recognizing partnerships of all kinds in the Duke employee community," said Robin Buhrke, coordinator of lesbian, gay and bisexual services at Counseling and Psychological Services and co-chair of the Duke Guild for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns. "The time has come when great institutions recognize their lesbian, bisexual and gay communities. Validated relationships make for healthier workplaces."
To qualify for the extended benefits, same-sex couples at Duke must sign an affidavit attesting to long-term commitment and must produce evidence of mutual financial responsibility, such as a joint checking account or joint mortgage. The qualifications, and other details of the plan, were part of final recommendations issued Dec. 20 by an employee committee Keohane appointed last spring to study the issue.
The same-sex benefits package offers the same benefits available to married employees, except where tax laws, insurance carriers' policies or other legal discrepancies have made it impossible to offer identical features.
The Office of Human Resources will hold an open enrollment period in May for partners of homosexual employees to sign up for insurance and health care benefits, which will go into effect July 1. Other benefits would begin on March 1.
It is unclear how many employees will sign up for the new policy, but virtually all universities and corporations that have implemented same-sex partner benefits have found the cost to be minimal, averaging about a .5 percent increase, said Judith White, special assistant to the president and sexual harassment prevention coordinator. White chaired the group that drafted the domestic partnership benefits plan last spring.
Some gay and lesbian employees may choose not to apply for the benefits, Buhrke said, since their partners may already receive benefits from their employers.
The proposal does not include graduate students, an oversight that some supporters understand but would like to see remedied.
"Graduate students recognized that this proposal was never intended to cover students," said Mike Tino, a second-year graduate student in cell biology. "But I think our chances look good, especially in light of this new policy. It sets a good precedent. I think Keohane would recognize that discrimination is discrimination, whether it's employees or students."
White said she has not been involved in any discussions on extending benefits to graduate students.
Non-married heterosexual couples were excluded from the plan because they have the choice of legally affirming their relationship through marriage, according to Keohane's letter.
"In [Keohane's] mind, this was clearly an issue of complying with the University's nondiscrimination policy," Buhrke said.
Many advocates of the policy for gay and lesbian couples said coverage for unmarried heterosexual couples should be a separate issue.
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