The survival of Yale's Gay Studies without Larry Kramer

By Brian Lavery

When Larry Kramer approached Yale University with the intention of founding a permanent professorship in gay studies, he came armed with his ego, his wallet, and his knack for being "a smart, charming, challenging, pain in the neck." That characterization by Associate Dean Joseph Gordon describes how Kramer, BR '57, successfully used confrontational tactics as the founder of AIDS activist group Act Up, and in his career as a playwright and actor. Of his first meeting with Yale Provost Alison Richard, Kramer said, "We sized each other up and realized we each faced a worthy opponent." For the time being, Kramer has lost the battle: after an intense and lengthy negotiation process, the University refused to accept Kramer's money. The gift conflicts with Yale's freeze on hiring new faculty and President Levin's "selective excellence" approach to Yale academics. While Yale is known as a gay-friendly school for students and faculty, headstrong attitudes prevented the University from taking unprecedented steps to develop its already impressive offerings in gay and lesbian studies--a field with the potential of becoming academia's "next big thing."

`No trust left for Yale'

Yale's Development Office planted the seeds for this summer's controversy and conflict in the 1970s when it solicited Kramer about leaving a bequest to the University in his will. As an undergraduate, Kramer felt he was the only gay man in the world, let alone on Old Campus. His unhappiness during this time led sparked his desire to leave his estate to Yale. "I vowed that if I ever made and money I would donate it to Yale to help gay kids there be happier than I was," Kramer said.

Over a year ago Kramer drafted a will leaving his estate to the University, with the stipulation that the money be used for either an endowed chair in gay and lesbian studies or the building of a gay and lesbian student center. After submitting the will to the Development Office, Kramer received a "harsh and unfriendly letter" from the Provost indicating Yale's problems with the gift. In the winter of 1996, meetings ensued between Kramer, Richard, Gordon, and Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, at which the administrative officials explained their inability to accept the proposals. Kramer, enraged, withdrew his offer during the summer. "I have absolutely no trust left for Yale, or any feeling," he said.

According to Brodhead, the University cannot accept an endowed chair because of its permanence--the single issue on which Kramer refused to budge. While the supposition that gay and lesbian studies may not be a viable professorship in the distant future offended Kramer, Brodhead emphasized the need to allow emerging fields to develop before creating an endowed chair. "Endowment is forever," Brodhead said. "In what way can we fit [gay and lesbian studies] into the curriculum 200 years from now? The last thing you would want is to lock in place some conception of the field that lively scholars will be alienated by."

Kramer's complaints indicate the lack of flexibility on both sides: "Everyone is all smiles and cheers and at the same time they're not giving on a single thing." According to Gordon, "Larry Kramer seems to persist in wanting to see this as an attempt by Yale to squelch lesbian and gay studies, whereas it's really an attempt to shape it and promote it.... We're not prepared yet either institutionally or intellectually to make a leap to some kind of overly defined concrete program."

The secondary proposal for a permanent gay and lesbian student center also faced opposition from the Administration. "The University feels it needs to have a Yale student center first," Gordon said. A variety of student centers for specific groups were established decades ago and the current Administration is hesitant to continue any trend that may further break up the Yale student body. "Yale is not trying to endorse isolationism or segregation among the student body," Brodhead said.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Co-operative currently occupies an office on Crown Street, which Coordinator Chris Sargent, CC '99, said is rarely used, due to its inaccessible and unsafe location. Its small size makes the space impractical for student events as well. Student demand for a new location, however, seems to be low. Of a legitimate gay and lesbian center, Sargent said, "It would be a nice thing to have." Richard commented, "There was no clear or overwhelming enthusiasm for a student center. ...I have concerns about removing gay and lesbian students from the central part of the campus."

The Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale provides a model which a potential gay and lesbian student center could follow. Completed in 1995(?), the Slifka Center is not Yale property and is not affiliated with the University. It hires its own employees, leases land from Yale, and maintains the Kosher Kitchen through a unique arrangement with the Yale University Dining Halls. This type of center, officially separated from the University, remains an available option to Kramer, but he has not expressed any intentions to pursue it.

Many classes, few formalities

Despite the refusal of the Kramer gift, Yale continues to uphold its reputation as a gay-friendly institution for students and faculty. The University is an acknowledged leader in gay and lesbian studies, thanks in large part to many innovative scholars. Until his death from AIDS in 1994, historian John Boswell broke new ground in researching the medieval Catholic church's tolerance of homosexuality and same-sex marriages. Wayne Koestenbaum, noted author and English professor, left Yale last year for the City University of New York. While Kramer cites Koestenbaum's inability to receive tenure at Yale as an example of homophobia at the University, visiting professor of gay and lesbian studies Mathew Kuefler said that "the issue of losing talented young scholars is not specific to lesbian and gay studies at Yale."

There is no formal arrangement for gay and lesbian studies at Yale, but what the University lacks in structure, it makes up for in content. Yale's offerings in the subject far exceed those at other schools. The Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies (FLAGS) coordinates academic efforts in the field. The committee's 14 faculty members appointed by the Provost, hail from a variety of Yale departments. Founded by Boswell, FLAGS sponsors various events and projects, in addition to publishing the Pink Book, a listing of Yale courses relevant to gay and lesbian studies.

Most importantly, FLAGS brings a visiting professor to New Haven each year to teach gay and lesbian studies. For the 1997-1998 academic year, Mathew Kuefler will teach "Introduction to Lesbian and Gay Studies"; "History and Sexual Identity I: Pre-Modern Cultures"; and its partner course "II: Modern Cultures." These courses are listed under the Women's Studies department, which works very closely with FLAGS. According to Women's Studies Chair and FLAGS member Margaret Homans, four of the five visiting professors have been associated with Women's Studies.

An academic marriage of convenience

The link between the Women's Studies department and gay and lesbian studies is more than a marriage of convenience. Many universities have a "Women's Studies and Gender Studies" department that includes gay and lesbian studies courses. Wesleyan University offers a gay and lesbian studies concentration within its American Studies major, according to FLAGS Chair Charles Porter. If FLAGS has its way, such a development may eventually take place at Yale. It is unlikely, however, that gay and lesbian studies will take the form of an independent department. Only San Francisco State University offers an undergraduate department in gay and lesbian studies.

The notion of an independent department scares off many faculty and administrators. Regarding the possibility of a separate department in gay and lesbian studies, Porter commented, "I don't think we're at all ready to know if that's the direction Yale should be moving in." Homans concurred: "I agree that you shouldn't just set up an academic program just because you have five million dollars.... We could be a leader in this field without a department called gay and lesbian studies."

A third possible arrangement follows along the lines of "Ethnicity Race & Migration," which became available as a second major this year after 10 years of development and discussion, according to Gordon. The ER&M major includes courses cross-listed from a variety of disciplines, and only one introductory course While Gordon wouldn't admit the possibility of gay and lesbian studies as a second major within the next two years, he said it remains a definite possibility for several years in the future. Richard refused to hypothesize about how soon such a major could be established, but said continued growth in the field, increased faculty support, and greater student interest are necessary before the program takes on a formal shape.

Finding money and support

The publicity of the Kramer grant has had the positive effect of jump-starting FLAGS's fund-raising initiatives. "Thanks to Larry Kramer, FLAGS got its act together," Porter said. A pamphlet published by FLAGS this summer outlines several of the committee's goals. Foremost among them is obtaining additional funding for the visiting scholar program; current funds will run out in 1999. Other planned programs include sponsoring graduate and faculty research projects, a lecture and film series, and a second visiting scholar each year. According to Richard, the Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association (GALA) will be the focal point for fundraising to support the FLAGS initiatives.

Porter referred to Kramer's proposed position as "a free-floating permanent professor of what?" He indicated that the Provost's decision to reject Kramer's gift was most likely in accordance with FLAGS's wishes and those of the faculty as a whole. "The things that Larry Kramer was trying to push struck some of us as premature," Porter said. "If each one of us had to do a private vote, there would have been a sizable minority who would have said `Take the money for a department or for a student center.'" Major changes to Yale's academic programs must be approved by the faculty, and Kramer dismissed the assumption that his endowed chair would not pass the test. "What annoyed the hell out of me was that [Richard] never put the question to the faculty. She rejected it like a little dictator," Kramer said.

Repairing the relationship

As a 62-year-old infected with HIV, Kramer is conscious of his own mortality, yet confident that he has some time left: "My health is fine, the estate grows, maybe I'll just sit on it for a while." Richard and the majority of the Yale faculty acknowledge the necessity to support gay and lesbian studies in the future. Gordon said, "[Kramer] wants the right thing to happen to Yale. With time to reflect we can recognize our common goals and set aside our different agendas in the present."

Back to the front page...