By Taylor Nigrelli
Sports Editor
In April 2013, then Bona Venture news editor Nate West (current managing editor) wrote a story exposing St. Bonaventure’s policy of not printing LGBT marriage announcements in its alumni magazine, The Bonaventure.
The piece, which also yielded a condemning editorial from former editor-in-chief Mary Best, garnered a fair amount of attention in student and alumni circles before fizzling out over the summer.
The university has not changed the policy since and has no immediate plans to do so.
Let me be clear: all alumni should be allowed to share their wedding announcement with their former classmates and the entire Bonaventure community regardless of their sexual orientation. This should have never been an issue in the first place. The editorial staff should have printed the first LGBT marriage announcement it received.
The school will gladly accept tens of thousands of dollars of tuition money from LGBT students. LGBT students are totally free to engage in the same campus activities as any other student. They are not kept from eating at the Hickey Dining Hall. The school does not prevent them from attending basketball games or using the Richter Center.
Then why keep LGBT alumni from sharing one of life’s most precious announcements with their former classmates?
However, I was pleasantly surprised when I inquired about the policy. I learned that it is still a topic of discussion among school officials and the Board of Trustees, according to Vice President for University Relations Emily Sinsabaugh.
“We are continuing to discuss the policy and its implications for our diverse population of students and alumni,” Sinsabaugh said.
Sinsabaugh went on to say she and the editorial staff of the magazine welcome feedback and questions from students and alumni on the issue and even share those opinions with the editors.
There’s no sense dwelling on the past when our present actions can improve the future. If the Board of Trustees and the magazine’s editorial staff really are weighing student and alumni opinions, it’s possible the St. Bonaventure community has the power to eliminate this shameful and archaic policy.
This is a noble goal, worthy of the effort of the entire alumni and student community.
This isn’t about Catholic tradition or church policy. The alumni magazine should be a publication where former Bonnies can keep apprised of the accomplishments and life events of their classmates.
I urge all St. Bonaventure students, faculty and alumni who oppose discrimination to stand up for their fellow classmates. Those who feel strongly about the issue should contact Sinsabaugh or Brother Ed Coughlin, OFM, vice president for the Franciscan Mission. Or write a letter to the Board of Trustees. Write to Sister Margaret. Write to anyone in power who will listen.
Let your voice be heard, and don’t allow this injustice to continue.
There was a time when women weren’t allowed to attend St. Bonaventure. The school only recently began allowing co-ed floors.
These policies seem backward and unimaginable now. That’s what this magazine’s policy will be viewed as in the future.
Don’t be on the wrong side of history. Stand against discrimination.
Taylor Nigrelli is the sports editor for The Bona Venture. His email is nigreltn11@bonaventure.edu
