Cal Poly’s Los Lecheros Dairy Club is being scrutinized for a recent Facebook posting that banned gay couples from attending the group’s year-end formal.
The event invitation, posted by one of the club’s officers, invited students to the formal, but noted that “if you bring a date, it must be someone of the opposite sex.”
The event has since been canceled.
The investigation is centering around whether the formal was an official club-sponsored or a private party, with no connection to Cal Poly. According to the Cal Poly Club Handbook, “Cal Poly Student Clubs shall not discriminate either in the content of bylaws or in practice against any person by reason of … sexual orientation.” If the controversial event is determined to be affiliated with the Dairy Club, the club could lose its charter.
Dairy Club officials are claiming the event had no affiliation to the university, and Vice President for Academic Affairs Cornel Morton said the individuals who posted the Facebook event do not represent the club and the club does not sponsor the “private” party.
Morton described the page’s language as “abhorrent.”
“When we have concerns about discrimination, we have to speak forcefully and resolutely that those behaviors are not indicative of the university’s values or supported in ways that would alienate or marginalize any person or group,” he said.
While Morton said the discriminatory policy does not inhibit Cal Poly’s effort to provide a more inclusive community, he is “concerned that students in our community would place these kind of conditions on admission to a party.”
When asked if the event reminded him of the crop house incident in 2008, Morton said he is not focused on that.
“Cal Poly is focused on any incident or any behavior that is counter to the university’s goals for creating a tolerant and inclusive community so we don’t have incidents where people feel unwanted,” he said.
Morton said this can be used as a reminder that creating a tolerant environment is a long-term commitment and a means to create educational opportunities and spur discussion.
“If any good comes out of this, it is that people are reminded we have more work to do and we must participate in conversations that lead to understanding,” Morton said.
Cal Poly statistics freshman Melody Samuels said this incident makes her uncomfortable since society has generally become more tolerant of people’s differences.
“Clearly I’m unhappy that things like this are still happening,” she said. “It hurts that people will still be vocal about things that are discriminatory against other people.”
Cuesta College student Sara Vieira said, “It’s pathetic that occurrences like this are still happening.”
“This is the second time people from the Cal Poly agriculture department have openly expressed discrimination towards minorities,” she said. “Regardless of whether this is a club-sponsored event, their open display of discrimination is ridiculous and unacceptable … Obviously someone needs to teach Cal Poly agriculture students a serious lesson in tolerance.”
Kate McIntyre, Alex Kacik and Dave Meyers contributed to this report.