Faculty unanimously approved wording changes to the Equal Opportunity Policy and discussed issues related to athletics at the Academic Council meeting Thursday.
The amended version of the Equal Opportunity Policy, which appears in faculty and staff handbooks, now forbids harassment and discrimination on the basis of "gender identity." In addition, the faculty approved altering the phrase "sexual orientation or preference" to read only "sexual orientation."
Benjamin Reese, vice president for institutional equity, described the changes to council members. He said removing the word "preference" reflected most people's understanding of sexual orientation.
Reese and Pamela Bernard, vice president and general counsel, further explained the addition of the words "gender identity" in a memo distributed to the council.
"The majority of our peer institutions, including Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Penn and Yale, have made similar changes," they wrote. Reese and Bernard noted that the change would not affect the University's medical or benefit plans.
Although Reese invited inquiries and comments from the faculty, council members approved the change without debate or opposition.
President Richard Brodhead and Paul Haagen, professor of law and chair of the council, addressed oversight of athletics in a prepared statement and an informal discussion.
During a delay in the meeting's progression, Haagen reported that he hopes to finalize the executive committee's recommendations for changes to the Athletic Council by Friday.
Haagen emphasized the importance of a strong and informed faculty voice regarding athletics.
"The athletic department does not crave a position of distance or isolation," Brodhead said.
Assigning faculty representatives to specific sports teams has engendered an "overwhelmingly positive" response, Haagen said.
In his response earlier in the session to the "Question for the President," a regular feature of the Academic Council's meetings, Brodhead addressed a faculty member's inquiry about the "removal as students" of three members of the 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team.
"It is not the case that anyone was suspended from this University... on the basis of the [March 13] party alone," Brodhead said.
He added that it is University policy to put students under "interim suspension" when there is reason to think the students' presence in the community would put them or others at risk.
Twenty-four "comparable institutions" have similar policies, Brodhead noted.
Last on the meeting's agenda was an appearance by Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System. The council entered a closed session for Dzau's presentation on "proposed Medical School reorganization."
In other business:
Kenneth Surin, professor of literature, has joined the executive committee of the Academic Council. He will complete the term of Karla Holloway, professor of English, who recently resigned from her position on the committee. Holloway also announced her resignation from the Campus Culture Initiative earlier this month.
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