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Western Carolinian article "Board of Trustees Meets: Ramsey Center, AIDS, Among Topics"

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  • This December 12, 1985 article in the Western Carolinian titled "Board of trustees meets: Ramsey Center, AIDS, among topics" includes a report to the board of trustees from Glenn Stillion, vice-chancellor for student development, letting them know that Lavender Bridges has petitioned for university recognition. Lavender Bridges, an anonymously founded student organization open to all individuals, aimed to promote awareness of lesbian and gay lifestyle, provide lesbian and gay resources, and increase communication with all students and community members. The first organizational meeting took place October 10, 1985 and was officially recognized by the office of Student Development on December 13, 1985. The last mention of the group appeared in the October 10, 1991 issue of the Western Carolinian.
  • BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETS: RAMSEY CENTER, AIDS, AMONG TOPICS An interim policy to govern the use of the Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center, including regulation of alcoholic beverages, was approved Friday by the Western Carolina board of trustees. The action came at the recommendation of a board- administration committee chaired by Stephen W. Woody, trustee, of Asheville. Woody said an interim policy was needed because completion of the building, now a year over due, appears likely by March 1986. The board was told in a construction progress report that with delays in completion of the mechanical contract, completion of the entire project, including final checks by state authorities, is not likely until the latter part of March. That schedule, CJ. Carter, vice chancellor for business affairs, said is "do-able" if the mechanical contractor can meet a schedule that calls for installation of the heating and cooling systems by January 1. In the action on building use and alcoholic beverages, the board limited service and consumption of such beverages to three areas— —a hospitality suite, "green" (artists' dressing) room, and main arena floor, only at banquets, receptions and similar special occasions. The board also surrounded the use of alcoholic beverages with an array of other restrictions that leave all service of such beverages under tight university control and limit use to situations in which there is university-catered food service. On general use of the facility for food and beverage functions, the policy statesthatfunctionsthat are not university related, not arena related and don't exceed the capacity of local restaurants will be directed to seek service at private establishments in the area. Woody said that language is intended to assure that the university complies with provisions of the Umstead Act that prohibits state-supported competition with private enterprise. The committee will continue to consider additional regulations and may make additional proposals at a March board meeting, Woody said. Glenn Stillion, vice chancellor for student development, told the board a statewide task force has been appointed by the University of North Carolina system to develop a systemwide health education^ program that would include an information and education program on the problems of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), a disease that has been found largely but not exclusively among male homosexuals. Myron L. Coulter, chancellor, said only 69 cases of AIDS have been reported in North Carolina and only a few of that number on state university campuses. None have been reported at Western Carolina, Stillion said. The state task force will visit all of the system .campuses early next year, and similar campus task forces are being formed, Stillion said, to provide factual information and prevent hysteria. Stillion told the board a small 16-member student supportgroup for Gay men, called 'Lavender Bridges," has petitioned for university recognition. Recognition would not carry with it endorsement of the group's purposes, he said, nor would it provide any univeristy or student fees' funding. He said similar organizations exist at N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington, UNC- Greensboro and East Carolina University. One that was established at Appalachian State, he said, is now apparently defunct. Trustee Richard Wood, Jr. of Asheville, an attorney, asked if North Carolina law does not make homosexual practices a criminal offense but Richard Kucharski, university legal counsel, said the constitutional right of freedom of association and assembly has been held to establish the right of homosexuals to form organiza tions. No action has yet been taken on the group's request. In other matters, the board: Received a list of possible capital construction and renovation projects totaling $13.2 million but was told no final decisions have been made on what funding would actually be sought over the next four years. Heard a progress report on the establishment of the North Carolina Center for the Advance ment of Teaching at WCU, including the role the WCU board will play in site and architectural decisions. The center's own board will meet at WCU Dec. 19. Received the annual financial statement showing university total operations now at more than $50 million annually.