--- Forwarded Message from Claire Bradin Siskin <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:59:10 -0500
>From: Claire Bradin Siskin <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: letter from NEALLT
>To: [log in to unmask]

Northeast Association for Language Learning Technology
Robert Henderson Language Media Center
University of Pittsburgh

February 16, 2005

Dear Colleagues,

The Northeast Association for Language Learning Technology has been
engaged in very concerned discussion about the upcoming FLEAT V
conference to be hosted by Brigham Young University.  As we consider
the prospect of attending this conference, we first would like to
make it clear that we hold all our colleagues at the Humanities
Learning Resource Center of BYU in very high regard. BYU is a unique
and in many regards impressive institution, at which

- seventy-two percent of the student body speaks a second language
and many faculty are fluent in at least one language other than
English;
- during any given semester, roughly twenty-five percent of the
student body may be enrolled in language courses-a rate three times
the national average; and
- courses in 74 different languages are offered.

Many of us have had long friendships and collegial relationships with
the staff of the BYU Humanities Learning Resource Center.  All of us
have profited from their expertise and knowledge at previous
conferences and could learn more from visiting the truly world class
language facility that BYU is in the process of opening. We recognize
that individuals at the Humanities Learning Resource Center have
worked energetically for several years to provide an impressive
conference experience for FLEAT V.

However, we recently became aware of, and sensitized to, the level of
BYU's deliberate discrimination against members of the gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender community.  As you may be aware, it is BYU's
official university policy that:  "Any behaviors that indicate
homosexual conduct, including those not sexual in nature, are
inappropriate and violate the Honor Code.  Violations of the Honor
Code may result in actions up to and including separation from the
University."

BYU's current policies are designed to harass, discipline, suspend,
and ultimately expel any student, professor, or employee suspected of
being gay or lesbian.  These policies are actively enforced by the
Administration and have resulted in the dismissal of students and the
firing of faculty and staff. BYU is also on the list of censured
administrations of the American Association of University Professors
due to past violations of the generally recognized principles of
academic freedom and tenure as recognized by the AAUP. BYU has been
on this list since 1998. The AAUP report states the "the climate for
academic freedom at Brigham Young University is distressingly poor".

We respect that BYU has always defined itself as an openly and
distinctively Latter-Day Saint University.  We also recognize that an
institution wholly owned by the LDS Church should reflect the values
of the LDS community.  Those values are however in sharp conflict
with the identities of some, and the values of many, of our members.
By organizing a conference at BYU we are placing ourselves in
uncomfortable association with these policies. Some may even perceive
us to be endorsing them.

We do not call for a boycott of the FLEAT V conference but feel
compelled to raise awareness of these issues so that members of
NEALLT, IALLT and others who are interested may make informed,
personal decisions about whether or not to attend.  We do not propose
a litmus test for future conference sites but urge the Board of IALLT
to revisit the procedures by which sites are selected so that all
members will feel comfortable to attend future conferences. In the
case of BYU, there was good reason to think the selection would be
controversial.

This has not been an easy letter for us to write, and it will be with
honest regret that some of us decide that we cannot in good
conscience attend.

Sincerely,

Board of the Northeast Association for Language Learning Technology (NEALLT)

Michael Jones
Webmaster, NEALLT
Director, Language Resource Center
Swarthmore College

Claire Bradin Siskin
President, NEALLT
Director, Robert Henderson Language Media Center
University of Pittsburgh

Michael Heller
Vice President, NEALLT
Director of Language Learning Technology
Monclair State University

Marianne Crusius
Treasurer, NEALLT
Manager, Language Resource Center
Princeton University

Cindy Evans
Past President, NEALLT
Director, Foreign Language Resource Center
Skidmore College

Mary Toulouse
Newsletter Editor, NEALLT
Director, Foreign Language Resource Center
Lafayette College

For more information:

About BYU: -    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young_University

AAUP on Academic Freedom: -     http://www.aaup.org/com-a/index.htm

BYU on Academic Freedom: -http://www.byu.edu/fc/pages/refmapages/acadfree.html

Affirmation, a web site of Gay & Lesbian Mormons:
-       http://www.affirmation.org/learning/winning_or_losing.asp

BYU Honor Code:
-       http://www.byui.edu/DeanOfStudents/Honorcode.htm
-       http://campuslife.byu.edu/HONORCODE/chaste.htm

Stories of punishment and dismissal of students for honor code violations:
-       http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/847//847_colleges.asp
-       http://www.collegefreedom.org/report8.htm
-       http://www.sodomylaws.org/usa/utah/utnews15.htm

BYU support for the publication of academic texts that liken the
establishment of equal right for gays and lesbians to the expansion
of slavery and cite homosexuality in foreign countries as a threat to
American national security.
http://www.law2.byu.edu/jel/sp1996/html/Hilton.htm


--
Claire Bradin Siskin
Director
Robert Henderson Language Media Center
G 17 Cathedral of Learning
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA  15260
Office Phone: (412) 624-5939
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.polyglot.pitt.edu

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