Columbia University: Student Homophile League, c, Fall 1966 - April 19, 1967 · Queer History of Colleges and Universities

Columbia University: Student Homophile League, c, Fall 1966 - April 19, 1967

Student Homophile League-Columbia (est. Fall 1966; officially recognized April 19, 1967)

1967-04-19: SHL granted official university recognition as a student organization (Columbia Spectator 27 April 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
1967-04-29: University Chaplain John Cannon (also SHL faculty advisor) criticizes SHL for seeking “excess publicity” (Columbia Spectator 4 May 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
1967-05-04: Dean David B. Truman describes SHL as “a quite unnecessary thing” and says it “sure as hell won’t help” the university’s funding and recruitment drives (Columbia Spectator 5 May 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
1967-05-05: University Director of Counseling Services Dr. Anthony Philip states in a letter that SHL’s publicity seems “inappropriate as well as self-defeating” (Columbia Spectator 9 May 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
1967-05-09: SHL radio interview on WKCR 590 (Columbia Spectator 9 May 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
Summer 1967: University denies SHL mailing privileges (Columbia Spectator 29 September 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
1967-09-29: Acting Dean Henry S. Coleman admits he withheld mailing privileges from SHL because he felt the content would be “misunderstood” by the parents of incoming freshmen (Columbia Spectator 2 October 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
1967-11-27: SHL announces its intention to establish chapters at Stanford, Cornell, and elsewhere (Columbia Spectator 28 November 1967 — Columbia Spectator)
1968-03-14: SHL announces availability of its own student-run counseling service (Columbia Spectator 14 March 1968 — Columbia Spectator)
1968-04-11: “The anguish of the student homosexual,” by Stephen Donaldson (Columbia Spectator 11 April 1968 — Columbia Spectator)
1968-04-16: SHL “Homosexuality in Prisons” talk (Columbia Spectator 17 April 1968 — Columbia Spectator)
1968-10-01: Chaplain Cannon announces his resignation before the end of the academic year (Columbia Spectator 2 October 1968 — Columbia Spectator)
1969-03-24: SHL event “The Lesbian: A Symposium” (Columbia Spectator 24 March 1969 — Columbia Spectator)
1969-05-02: SHL-Columbia/SHL-NYU event, the “First NYC All-College Gay Mixer” @ Church of the Holy Apostles (Columbia Spectator 28 April 1969 — Columbia Spectator)
1970: SHL renames to Gay People at Columbia (GPC)
1971-04-25: GPC announces they will seek recognition of a “gay lounge” on campus (Columbia Spectator 26 April 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-04-26: GPC members Morty Manford and Arthur Evans request a meeting with University President McGill and Director of Student Interests Philip Benson regarding GPC’s request for a gay student lounge (Columbia Spectator 27 April 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-04-28: Furnald Hall Undergraduate Dormitory Council approves GPC’s proposal to utilize dormitory space for the proposed gay lounge (Columbia Spectator 29 April 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-05-04: GPC meets with President McGill regarding the proposed gay lounge and issues demands (Columbia Spectator 5 May 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-05-28: Dean Hovde states his opposition to a GPC-run gay lounge (Columbia Spectator 18 October 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-10-04: ACLU writes letter to Dean Hovde calling his opposition to the GPC lounge “arbitrary and discriminatory” (Columbia Spectator 22 October 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-10-15: GPC demands that Hovde retract his opposition to the gay lounge (Columbia Spectator 18 October 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-10-27: Dean Hovde responds to the ACLU’s October 4 letter and reaffirms his opposition to the GPC lounge (Columbia Spectator 3 November 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-11-02: GPC president Morty Manford responds to Dean Hovde’s continued opposition to the GPC lounge (Columbia Spectator 3 November 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-11-10: Dean Henry S. Coleman states that he anticipates the university will grant recognition to the GPC lounge, and states that believes this means Columbia will be at least two years ahead of the curve socially, compared to other universities (Columbia Spectator 11 November 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1971-11-15: Furnald Hall UDC announces it will appeal the administration’s refusal to recognize the GPC lounge to the Columbia University Board of Trustees, the first such appeal since the university’s by-laws were amended in 1968 to allow for student appeals (Columbia Spectator 18 November 1971 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-02-10: GPC president Morty Manford suggests the establishment of a homosexual studies course at Columbia University (Columbia Spectator 14 February 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-02-23: The Columbia University Board of Trustees agrees to hear the Furnal Hall UDC’s appeal of the university administration’s refusal to recognize the GPC lounge (Columbia Spectator 24 February 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-04-13: The Board of Trustees hears the Furnald Hall UDC’s appeal regarding the GPC lounge (Columbia Spectator 14 April 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-09-18: Newly-installed Dean Pouncey announces he intends to reverse the prior position of Dean Hovde, and grant recognition to the GPC lounde (Columbia Spectator 19 September 1972 — Columbia Spectator) Pouncey’s Statement: (Columbia Spectator 19 September 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-10-01: Dean Pouncey announces that an anonymous alumnus donated $3,500 to the Dean’s Discretionary Fund for maintenance of the GPC lounge in Furnald Hall (Columbia Spectator 15 November 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-10-02: The Board of Trustees votes to deny official university recognition to the GPC lounge (Columbia Spectator 3 October 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-11-14: University President McGill orders Dean Pouncey to not use the anonymously-donated $3,500 to provide funding and maintenance for the GPC lounge (Columbia Spectator 15 November 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-11-21: GPC stages a sit-in at President McGill’s office to protest his refusal to recognize the gay lounge in Furnald Hall (Columbia Spectator 22 November 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-11-28: Dean Pouncey announces that he and the anonymous donor discussed the matter of the GPC lounge financing, and the donor agreed to donate an additional $2,500 directly to the Furnald Hall UDC for maintenance of the GPC lounge, in order to bypass President McGill and the Board of Trustees (Columbia Spectator 29 November 1972 — Columbia Spectator)
1972-11-29: President McGill announces he will “go no further” and will not seek the closure of the GPC in response to the anonymous alumnus’ $2,500 donation (Columbia Spectator 30 November 1972 — Columbia Spectator)