- SPU's Dean Jordan: Still marginalizing Haven.
One week ago, a post about Haven appeared on The Strangerâs blog, Slog. The post condemned the universityâs action and encouraged readers to speak out against SPU. The original Slog post generated over 65 comments, as well as over 30 comments on The Falconâs Feb. 2 article, âHaven no longer to meet on campus.ââI canât fully fathom how large it is yet,â said senior Caleb Richmond, co-leader of Haven. âI imagine Iâm only seeing a piece of the picture.â
Now, Havenâs story has also appeared in Seattle Gay News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and has been broadcast on KOMO Newsradio. Additional daily posts on Slog have published letters from disapproving alumni, many of whom also wrote letters to The Falcon.
Another letter, which is circulating via a Haven support blog and Facebook, petitions the university to reverse its decision on Haven. As of press time Tuesday night, the letter had received 222 signatures, 18 of which are from openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer students and alumni.
Dozens of letters have also been sent directly to President Philip Eaton and Jeff Jordan, associate vice president of academic affairs.
On Friday, Jordan said he did not wish to be defensive about what was happening with Haven in relationship to the larger Seattle community. Still, neither the media attention nor alumni response changes the universityâs stance, he said.
âI donât think we have, in some way, said, âStop talking about sex,ââ Jordan said. âWe havenât done that, nor do we want to do that.â