The following are copyrighted materials. They may be downloaded and used without further permission for classroom use only. They may not be used in any publication nor may they be altered or adapted without permission from the author.
The materials are in three parts:

1. Welcome to Cromwell College
2. Case #9. It's a Riot
3. Mini-Case #1: The Letter

Welcome to Cromwell College

Madeline Piccioto
Department of English
Spelman College

The admissions recruiters for Cromwell College are fond of pointing out that the school "looks like a college is supposed to look." And indeed, the well-manicured Academic Quad and neo-Gothic classroom buildings do make excellent subjects for the glossy full-color photographs in the Admissions Office's brochures. CC offers an oasis of green along a commercial strip on the fringes of a major city.

Many of the school's 2000 full-time students come from the surrounding area, but every year more and more of these promising young men and women come from out of state and even from abroad. This year, 42 different states and 17 foreign countries are represented in the Cromwell student body. In addition to geographic variety, recent recruitment initiatives have led to other forms of diversity in the CC population: there are large percentages of African-American, Asian-American, Latino, and Native American students. Over twenty different religious organizations have been formed on campus, and the Cromwell Chapel provides meeting and worship space for all the organized religious groups. In addition, several new student organizations (such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, the Association of the Physically Challenged, and the International Students' Union) have been formed. Altogether, the Cromwell of today presents a very different picture from the Cromwell of twenty or thirty years ago. Whether they commute from their parents' homes, live in nearby apartments, or reside in campus dormitories, all of CC's students are acutely aware that they are part of an institution that is becoming ever more cosmopolitan and diverse.

Cromwell's national reputation as a selective liberal arts college has been growing steadily over the past ten years. The school's increased visibility is largely thanks to the efforts of its current president, who is well-known in the academic community for her extraordinary abilities in fundraising and public relations and who is determined to let the world know about Cromwell's academic excellence. CC's faculty includes Ph.D.'s from the nation's most prestigious universities, and the caliber of the student body--as measured by such indicators as standardized test scores--can rival that of many better-known colleges.

This year's entering class continues Cromwell's trend toward selectivity in its student body. With average test scores well above the national norms and an uncounted number of Student Council presidents, high school newspaper editors, and accomplished athletes, CC's first-year students have distinguished themselves both in and out of the classroom. And in their first few days at college, they've proven that they know how to have fun, as well--as has been demonstrated by a couple of already-legendary orientation parties in the Lower Dorm Quad.

Almost all the members of this high-achieving, fun-loving, and somewhat innocent first-year class are looking toward the coming year at CC with eager anticipation and a little bit of anxiety. College promises new experiences, new freedom, new friends--but it also presents challenges and obstacles to be met and overcome. Cromwell's pleasant, homey atmosphere, however, soon sets the entering students at ease. Everyone seems to know everyone else; and although a certain cliquishness can be detected in, for example, the cafeteria seating arrangements, CC appears to be a fairly close-knit community.

Of course, there are a few cynics who see the dark side of life at a school like Cromwell College. All may not be as cozy as it seems, they suggest. The relatively small size of the student body can encourage a sense of community, but it can also lead to social claustrophobia and a quest for conformity. Close faculty-student contact can generate meaningful intellectual exchanges, but it can also stifle individual independence and creativity. Moreover, when everyone knows everyone else--the cynics say--it becomes impossible to avoid discovering things you'd rather not find out. Unpleasant confrontations and disturbing encounters simply cannot be side-stepped.

And the cynics may, in part, be right. When something happens at CC, when unforeseen circumstances ruffle the school's ordinarily placid existence, students cannot help but be drawn into the situation. They are inevitably involved, and inevitably must take some sort of stand. They may find themselves in sharp disagreement with roommates, classmates, professors, friends--and these disagreements can sometimes escalate into all-out battles.

So this year's entering students will discover, as they face an unusually turbulent semester. In the narratives that follow, we will explore the reactions of the Cromwell community to a series of events that will trigger anger, anguish, resentment, and recriminations--and that perhaps, in the end, will lead to a new level of awareness and understanding throughout the college.

The Cases

This semester at Cromwell College seems destined to be an unusually turbulent one, as one controversy after another rocks the CC student body. This time, the commotion has focused on Cromwell's Gay and Lesbian Association (GALA). Many colleges and universities have had homosexual support groups for years, but Cromwell has been a late bloomer in this respect. GALA only came into existence last spring, and has since been fighting an uphill battle for acceptance on the Cromwell campus. Whenever the group posts leaflets announcing organizational meetings, the leaflets are immediately torn down, or else defaced with obscene and insulting graffiti ("Thanks for AIDS," was scrawled on one of them--most of the other comments are unprintable). Bathroom walls throughout campus abound with anti-gay sentiments, and a number of students, parents, and alumni loudly proclaim their disgust that an organization like GALA should be allowed to exist at such a venerable institution as Cromwell College.

But GALA is now a fact of life at CC, largely thanks to Paul Vega and Aline Oban--two strong-willed sophomores who are among the handful of openly homosexual students at the college. They persuaded biology professor Selena Weil to serve as their faculty adviser; they had chosen to approach Prof. Weil first because of her widespread popularity, second because of her well-known sympathy for all marginalized student groups, and third because they felt that her marital status (she was happily married to a physics professor and had two young children) would help to protect her from any uncomfortable allegations that might be made against any single faculty members who allied themselves with the group. With the help of Prof. Weil, Paul and Aline prepared all the paperwork necessary to establish GALA last April, and presented a proposed constitution for approval by the Cromwell Student Government (CSG). At their final meeting of the spring semester, the CSG voted to grant GALA recognition as an official student organization.

In the past, Cromwell had never been a particularly hospitable place for homosexuals. Gay men, in particular, had always been made to feel uncomfortable. The few who were open about their sexual orientation had been continually subjected to low-level verbal abuse. Whistles, catcalls, and objectionable epithets would erupt as they walked across the cafeteria to sit at their usual table. Most of this harassment came from the members of the Beta Omicron Zeta (BOZ) fraternity, though other groups also were occasionally heard to mutter "faggots" as Paul and the other gay men walked by.

Paul, who had an unusually strong sense of self, hadn't really been bothered by the verbal harassment; he had just laughed. He did, however, become angry when he went out to the student parking lot one morning last spring and found that his car was sporting the word "FAG" spray-painted in large white letters. He became even angrier when an off-campus group of gay men, who had rented Cromwell's facilities for a weekend retreat over spring break, stepped off their bus upon first arriving on the campus to be greeted by a barrage of rotten tomatoes. Paul himself had witnessed the assault, but no one was ever able to identify the perpetrators.

These events had prompted Paul to enlist his friend Aline's help in forming GALA. Aline had agreed that the time was ripe for a gay and lesbian support group at Cromwell. With the group officially recognized by the CSG, GALA was able to participate fully in this year's Orientation events along with all the other student organizations, and both Paul and Aline expressed high hopes for a successful year ahead.

So far, their optimism has seemed justified. This semester's first organizational meeting drew twenty students, and by the third weekly get-together that number almost doubled. Everyone involved in the group agreed that GALA needed to pursue two purposes: support (providing emotional and psychological assistance to group members), and outreach (raising the awareness of the Cromwell student body to the presence of gays and lesbians on campus and to a range of relevant issues).

The support activities, consisting of weekly meetings for the discussion of such problems as coming out to your parents, have been conducted quietly, and have caused little controversy. The outreach activities, however, have been by their nature much more open. In the first few weeks of the semester, GALA sponsored a series of AIDS awareness workshops, a lecture by a noted lesbian poet, a publicity campaign to help defeat a local anti-gay Congressman who was up for re-election, and a Friday night dance party that was, by all reports, one of the hottest social events ever to occur on the Cromwell campus.

At the same time, GALA has managed to upset an increasingly large portion of the Cromwell student body. "I don't care what they do, as long as they're not in my face," seems to be the viewpoint of many a CC student. But with a different public event every week, GALA has forced the Cromwell community to take notice of the presence of homosexuals on campus. Moreover, with the support of the group, more and more gay and lesbian students who had been closeted up till now have finally worked up the courage to come out. Suddenly, as one particularly shocked first-year student was heard to exclaim, "It seems like everyone at CC is gay!"

This is, of course, an exaggeration. But on a relatively small campus like Cromwell's, even a couple of dozen openly homosexual students might seem like a lot to students who are uncomfortable about same-sex relationships. And as the gay and lesbian couples at CC have become more and more unabashed about their sexual orientation, more and more conflicts have ensued.

When Aline and her friend Vivian Fischer were seen walking around campus with their arms around each other, reactions ranged from half-suppressed sniggering to shouted obscenities. A delegation of students even went so far as to visit the office of Sylvia Stevens, Cromwell's Dean of Students, urging the Dean to expel the two women for "public lewdness." Dean Stevens explained that even if she had wanted to penalize the two women, she couldn't: the CC harassment policy, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, would preclude any disciplinary action. Since no one would ever think of taking action against a heterosexual couple for resting their hands on one another's waists, the college could not take action against a lesbian couple for doing the same thing.

In spite of occasional heckling, however, most Cromwell students seem willing to put up with public displays of affection on the part of homosexual women. More controversial, however, have been signs of physical intimacy between homosexual men. It was over just such an issue that Cromwell College witnessed its first riot.

It all began at a GALA support meeting, when a number of the group's members started complaining about feeling physically constrained in public. "It's not fair," commented one young man. "I see straight couples practically having intercourse on the dance floor, and nobody seems to care. But if I so much as touch my lover's arm, I feel like I'm violating the sensibilities of the entire community."

Aline nodded. "Look at the crap Vivian and I have to put up with--and we're women, which for some reason makes people more willing to accept physical contact. Imagine what would happen if a couple of gay men walked around campus holding hands--or kissing!"

Most of the GALA members just shook their heads sadly. Paul, however, always the most confrontational and aggressive member of the group, immediately broke into the conversation: "Well, you're probably right that people would be outraged at the sight of two gay men openly expressing their affection for each other. But why should we let their outrage control our behavior? Don't we all know that they'd be wrong to be outraged, that we're not doing anything evil, that we have as much right to love, happiness, and self-expression as anyone else? I for one am sick of worrying about whether or not I'm going to disgust some homophobic BOZ goon. I deserve to live my life freely and openly."

Paul turned to his lover, Jeffrey Abrams, and asked, "Jeffrey, how would you feel if from now on you and I were to behave just like any straight couple? You know, holding hands if we feel like it, or whatever? Do you think you could handle the consequences?"

Jeffrey, not quite as confrontational as Paul, was silent for a few moments. But finally he nodded his head and said, "Well, Paul, you know I don't have the guts you do, and I have to admit that I'm afraid of how people will react. But I'm also getting sick of constantly having to watch myself, to hold back from even the most trivial public expression of my feelings for you. You and I have already come out openly--everyone at Cromwell and everyone back home, even our parents, knows we're gay. I don't think we'd have anything to lose by doing what lovers everywhere do: proclaiming our love for each other by signs of physical affection. I say to hell with anyone who might be disgusted or outraged by such behavior!"

"Way to go!" exclaimed Paul. And so the next day, Paul appeared casual and comfortable as he sat with some friends at his usual table in the cafeteria, complaining about the inedible CC lunch fare. When Jeffrey came into view over by the salad bar, Paul smiled and waved at him.

That simple action was enough to generate a series of mutterings from a group of BOZ brothers seated a couple of tables away. "Hey, faggot! Waving to your sweetheart?" they jeered. Paul merely smiled, but by this time most of the people at the surrounding tables had focused their attention on Paul and the BOZos, and watched to see what would happen next.

When Jeffrey walked over to Paul's table and sat down beside him, the BOZos' taunting became even louder. Paying no attention to their jeers, Paul leaned over, put his arm around Jeffrey's shoulder, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. That was too much for the BOZ brothers. They all started shouting insults and obscenities. One of them, Zeke Edwards, leaped out of his chair and bounded across to Paul and Jeffrey's table, all the while yelling threats about what would happen to "faggots who do things that make decent folks want to puke." A couple of Zeke's fraternity brothers tried rather ineffectually to hold him back, while some of the other BOZos cheered him on.

Other Cromwell students at the surrounding tables had a variety of reactions. Some, equally disgusted by Paul and Jeffrey's behavior but not as open in their disgust as the BOZos, sat back to watch Zeke in action. A few, sensing a potential conflagration and not wanting to take part in it, quickly got up and left the cafeteria. Others, who may or may not have been in sympathy with Zeke and his brothers but who felt the need to deter a fight, tried to convince the BOZos to chill out. Still others took Paul and Jeffrey's side, shouting at Zeke and the rest of the BOZos and walking over to Paul and Jeffrey's table to help defend them, if necessary.

In the meantime, Zeke had reached Paul and grabbed him by the arm, yelling, "You think you can get away with this repulsive behavior? Well, faggot, I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!" Paul, however, was not about to let Zeke practice his unique methods of education. Just as Zeke's fist was about to close in on Paul's chin, Paul quickly jerked his elbow into Zeke's stomach with enough force to make him wince and stagger.

It wasn't easy to tell exactly what happened next, but within a minute or two there were at least thirty Cromwell students doing their best to beat each other up. Paul and Jeffrey had focused on Zeke, and were pounding him with their fists while he attempted to execute a series of well-aimed kicks. Some of Zeke's fraternity brothers, rushing to his defense, had begun by attacking Jeffrey and Paul, but then moved on to the others at their table who had plunged into the fray.

Aline and Vivian tried to hold back a couple of the participants, but ended up getting drawn into the melee as well. The BOZos, who prided themselves on being "gentlemen," were initially reluctant to hit women in public, but as one of them pointed out, "We don't really need to consider dykes as women," and so they threw Aline and Vivian down onto the floor. This incensed a number of bystanders, both men and women, who jumped in to assist Aline and Vivian. In no time at all, the uproar had resulted in five bloody noses, four black eyes, three sprained ankles, two broken fingers, and a dislocated thumb. And this was just the beginning.

In the meantime, someone had called the Department of Safety and alerted the security officers to what was going on in the cafeteria. When a group of four officers arrived on the scene, the place was a shambles. A number of dishes, cups, and glasses had been broken in the brawl, posing a serious danger to anyone who happened to slip onto the floor. Several students were already sporting bleeding gashes in their arms, legs, and faces as a result of falling on broken glass or crockery. A few of them--including Paul, Jeffrey, Aline, and Vivian--were so bruised and beaten that they were only semi-conscious. They lay sprawled on the floor, moaning softly.

At the sight of the uniformed officers, a sudden hush fell upon the mob. Those who were still capable of movement sank into the nearest chairs and looked around silently. No one wanted to suffer any legal charges or even any college disciplinary action, and no one had considered this possibility when the throwing of punches began. But now a realization of what they had done started to dawn on all parties. Sheepishly, they gazed at the mess they had created. As the security officers began taking statements from the participants, a number of bystanders who had remained to watch the melee and its aftermath started to help the stunned or injured students onto their feet. Slowly the cafeteria emptied out as the officers completed their interrogations.

When word spread across campus of what had happened, reactions ranged from shock to anger to disbelief. The cuts and bruises that had been sustained in the cafeteria riot were quick to heal, but the tattered emotions of the Cromwell community could not be mended so easily. For days after the brawl, students and faculty alike eyed each other suspiciously. "Is she gay?" a student might ask himself as he sat in GALA advisor Selena Weil's Introduction to Biology class. "Is he a gay-basher?" another student might ask herself as she sat beside a classmate who had come to Zeke's assistance in the fight. Although no one had pressed legal charges in the case, college disciplinary proceedings had gone forward, and tensions still lingered.

The Dean of Students had listened to the opinions of the various parties involved: Paul Vega had argued that he and Jeffrey Abrams had only acted in self-defense, and that Zeke Edwards, as the true instigator of the brawl, should receive the most stringent punishment. Zeke, on the other hand, had argued that Paul had thrown the first punch, and that he and Jeffrey had deliberately attempted to provoke violence by engaging in flagrant homosexual behavior; consequently, he asserted, they should be punished most severely.

In the end, however, Dean Stevens ignored all pleas, and meted out punishment uniformly. She decided to place everyone who had been involved in the brawl on disciplinary probation. A couple of the participants had already been on probation previous to the cafeteria incident. In their cases, the Dean imposed an immediate one-year suspension from Cromwell, and entered the reason for their suspension into their permanent transcripts.

Although a few students expressed the opinion that Dean Stevens' action was too harsh and a few others maintained that it was not harsh enough, most members of the CC community were willing to let the matter rest. Only a few weeks were left of the semester, and students and faculty alike were beginning to feel the inevitable end-of-term pressure. Consequently, almost everyone seemed to want to ignore the brawl and the ensuing tension, and focus on academic matters instead. And so whatever went on inside people's heads, the campus was outwardly quiet.

In the meantime GALA continued to hold weekly support meetings and public outreach events (including a well-attended self-defense workshop). The CC community seemed to have become more tolerant; the graffiti and verbal abuse had abated. Aline and Vivian were no longer the only physically demonstrative gay couple on campus. Paul and Jeffrey could often be seen with their arms around each other, as could Louis and Ted. Sabrina and Faith were even bold enough to slow-dance together at a CSG-sponsored party. Although these couples often attracted inquiring or openly disapproving looks from bystanders, no one confronted them either verbally or physically, perhaps afraid of setting off another riot.

And so when the GALA members got together for their regular meeting a month before the semester's end, their conversation was full of hope. "Maybe we're finally changing people's attitudes," Aline remarked. "I feel like the whole campus has become more tolerant of us." Vivian, Jeffrey, Louis, Ted, Sabrina and Faith all nodded in agreement.

Paul, on the other hand, always more cynical than everyone else, felt differently. "I wouldn't be so sure," he warned. "Just because they're not yelling at us or beating us up doesn't mean that they really accept us. I think they're just afraid of starting another fight and getting into trouble.

"You know, I think that Zeke and the other BOZos were pretty shocked when Jeffrey and I fought back. I think they expected gay men to just sit there and take whatever got dished out. I tell you, I'm glad we put up a struggle--at least we helped to destroy that one particular stereotype. But homophobic attitudes are built up over a lifetime. It would take years to really change the way that people look at us. We can make them think twice before expressing their true feelings--I think we've already achieved that. But as for changing their feelings . . well, I guess I'm not as optimistic as you folks seem to be."

Whether or not Paul was accurate in his cynicism, it was fortunately the fact that no further riots erupted that semester.

How do you feel about the existence of GALA at Cromwell College? If you had been in the cafeteria during the riot, how would you have responded--when the BOZos first began name-calling, when Zeke approached Paul and Jeffrey, and when large-scale violence subsequently erupted? Who do you think was to blame for what ensued? Did anyone do anything wrong? Should anyone have done anything differently? How do you feel about the disciplinary action taken by the Dean? Do you think Paul's assessment of the after-effects is an accurate one, or is he being too pessimistic?

We have examined the issue of freedom of expression in earlier cases; do you see it as an issue here as well? Do Paul and Jeffrey have a right to express their affection for one another just as other students might have had the right to express their beliefs by displaying the Confederate flag or drawing controversial cartoons for the campus newspaper? Should there be limits to physical means of self-expression? If so, why, and how would you determine such limits? If not, why not? Does physical self-expression differ from verbal or visual forms of expression? Why or why not?

Suggestions for Writing on Case #9

1. Your roommate, who has recently become an active member of GALA, felt that it was only fair for you to know about this and informed you by leaving a note on your desk this morning. You had never previously suspected that your roommate might be homosexual. Write back to your roommate, explaining your feelings upon finding the note.

2. Cromwell is not the only campus where the presence of gay and lesbian students has caused controversy. Through library research and/or personal interviews, investigate and report on the situation of one other college campus that has openly grappled with the issue of homosexuality.

3. The Cromwell Alumni Magazine occasionally publishes "point of view" columns written by current CC students to inform alumni about contemporary campus issues. Write an article for the magazine explaining the reaction of a typical Cromwell student (i.e. you!) to the existence of GALA.

Sondra Johnson trudged across Cromwell College's Academic Quad on her way to the Student Union for lunch. It was a dreary Friday, the tail end of a particularly stressful week, and she was ready for a little rest and relaxation.

Before heading to the cafeteria, Sondra stopped at the campus post office to check her box, hoping some mail from home would cheer her up. What she found was a letter from Alana, her best friend from high school, who had chosen to attend a historically Black college halfway across the country.

Of course, Alana didn't have to face the problems Sondra was confronting as an African-American in a predominantly White environment, but it turned out that Alana had some problems of her own. Her letter read, in part, as follows:

Sondra read Alana's letter slowly as she walked up the Student Union stairs, so engrossed that she unconsciously bumped into one after another of her Cromwell classmates. Alana had brought up some very interesting points. How should she respond when she answered her friend's letter later in the day?