Last Monday at 10:00 a.m., DePauw students, alumni, faculty and staff opened their e-mail accounts to find a press release from DePauw and Wabash presidents, Brian Casey and Gregory Hess, stating their joint partnership with Freedom Indiana Coalition against the Indiana House Joint Resolution 6.
HJR6 is a proposed amendment that, if passed, would permanently ban same-sex marriage in Indiana. Indiana University, Eli Lilly and Company, Cummins Inc. and the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce have all joined Freedom Indiana Coalition against HJR6.
Assistant Professor of University Studies Kelsey Kauffman, who will be teaching a class on this subject over Winter Term, often goes to the Indiana legislative meetings and is very familiar with this bill.
"This debate has been going on in the legislature for over a decade," Kauffman said. "This is the third time it has come up."
If the bill is passed in the legislative meeting in January then it will go on a ballot that the public will vote on. But Kauffman does not believe that the bill will make it through the polls.
"This issue is such a generational divide. Almost everyone in the legislature is old and most of them male," Kauffman said. "You have a Hoosier population who, on this issue, is in disagreement."
If this issue has proved at all divisive for DePauw students, faculty or donors, then those who are upset with Casey's announcement have kept their opinions to themselves.
David Hoover '67, who donated $25 million toward building a new dining hall on campus, says that Casey's stance does not make him regret his donation at all.
"I'm proud of DePauw. I'm proud that the University's taken this position, and I support it. If anything it might cause me to give more money," Hoover said.
Even members of the College Republicans at DePauw seem to be in agreement with Casey on this issue, while many representatives of their political party at the state level are not. Senior Ryan Heeb, president of the College Republicans, praises Casey for taking the stance that he did.
"I completely support president Casey in his opposition against HJR6," Heeb said.
Casey recognized that taking a stance on such a controversial political issue can backfire very easily, but he believes that this is an issue important enough to publicly address on behalf of the university.
"I think institutions need to weigh in on matters political with extreme care because you don't want the university speaking on every political matter. One, because you get too involved in the political process, also you run the fear of you don't want to shut down discourse on your own campus and you only want to take stances in the political sphere when you believe they directly impact the institution's mission," Casey said. "This one feels like it impacts our mission and our university's ability to function."
While there has not been much opposition on DePauw's campus, in a letter to the editor of the Indy Star on Friday, Jacob Eliot Nettnay questioned what the lack of student consultation could mean for President Hess.
"Academia is to stand for rigorous debate before conclusions are reached, not after," Nettnay said in his letter to the editor. "If [Hess'] inability to open internal issues to the campus constituents becomes a trend, I fear that his administration will be called into question."
Although not many feathers have been ruffled on DePauw's campus regarding this issue, it will be interesting to see the student interaction between Wabash and DePauw students during the Monon Bell game Saturday.
"The rivalry is still going to be there, but I think that [this issue] ties the universities together a little bit closer," Heeb said. "This is just another chapter in the history of the two colleges, being tied together as two of the most prominent liberal arts institutions in Indiana."
Casey agrees, adding, "Whenever DePauw and Wabash do something together there's an amplifier effect. I thought it might have more impact."
The issue at hand, one that impacts Casey on both an institutional and personal level, created a difficult decision in deciding to approve the announcement.
"There's not a lot of openly gay presidents in the country, so this issue for me came close," Casey said. "You do try to put your personal posture aside, how effectively one does that, I don't know."
He also added that working with Hess on the issue helped dispel concern about his decision to stand with the Freedom Indiana Coalition.
While Casey has a personal stance on the issue, he said he considered the issue through the lens of institutional values.
"Doing this with Wabash in a lot of ways neutralized that, because here is an institution with heterosexual president," Casey said. "In some ways that neutralized the issue, in some ways Wabash did me a personal favor.
Regardless of the stance that Casey has taken, the legislation will decide whether the law passes and moves on to the public ballot. Until then, all Indiana can do is wait.
"If you are operating in a state in which there are rules in place that make it less desirable, less comfortable to live there will it affect our ability to recruit faculty? Absolutely," Casey said. "If [HJR6] were to pass I would be both institutionally concerned and personally unhappy."
