Transcripts

DAN OLSON: There will be no Delta Lambda Phi Fraternity house on fraternity row for the time being. That may come later. 24-year-old John Tsujimura, a University junior and President of Delta Lambda Phi, says simply achieving the status of fraternity at the University is a sign of acceptance in the University community.

JOHN TSUJIMURA: I think people have their concerns about this coming up, but I think people understand our genuine mission that we are interested in. I believe we are found to be credible individuals. There has been, in the past, people going underground to vent their true identities and stuff like that. So by no means is it a surprise that there are gays involved in the fraternity system, it's just new that it's becoming defined and a little bit more open. And our fraternity is very highly visible, and that's part of the idea to be highly visible.

DAN OLSON: Reaction among other fraternity and sorority members at the University of Minnesota has been mixed. David Lamm, a University senior who is President of the Interfraternity Council, said, the notion of a gay fraternity was a shock to the system at first, as he put it, but Lamm says that the creation of a gay fraternity is a natural evolution in the Greek system.

DAVID LAMM: There's many people out there that really think this is a bad idea, and it's a bad moral statement, and it shouldn't be allowed to happen. And then there'll be the other extreme where their opinions will be, it's the best thing that ever happened, I want to donate money. I think it's a great social statement, especially at a conservative school where the memberships of the fraternities and sororities are conservative, and the general student body is fairly conservative.

DAN OLSON: There, apparently, has been no organized opposition to or protest over the creation of Delta Lambda Phi. Lou Freeman, the pastor at the University Baptist Church, whose members include students and staff from the campus, says the campus environment is relatively tolerant.

LOU FREEMAN: The right for people to associate with who they want to is a fairly fundamental right in our country, and I see no problem with it at all. I presume the reaction of some is based on their homophobia, which is their fear of gay and lesbian persons. And it's really like prejudice, and it has no place really in our society.

DAN OLSON: A spokesman for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, a religious group which recruits University students for its campus work, had no comment on the creation of a gay fraternity. A spokesman for the University Newman Center, a Catholic affiliated ministry which has its building on fraternity row, said there's no issue of contention connected with the creation of a gay fraternity.

There appears, for the moment at least, to be little opposition to Delta Lambda Phi, and Ann DeGroot is a little surprised by that fact. DeGroot is Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council in Minneapolis. She says Delta Lambda Phi's existence is significant for the country and for Minnesota.

ANN DEGROOT: Specifically in Minnesota, because it would be the first openly gay fraternity that we've had in the state. And it therefore is doing something that there's very little for college students in Minnesota, which is to create a place that college students can get together with people who are like themselves, and feel comfortable, and safe, and in fact, protected.

DAN OLSON: Ann DeGroot, Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council in Minneapolis. The University gay fraternity is the fourth of five chapters of Delta Lambda Phi in the United States. President John Tsujimura says other chapters are expected to form in the near future at other schools. I'm Dan Olson.