Mirror - Vol. 18, No. 20 - April 21, 1994

              The
FairfieldMIRR®R Volume 18, No. 20 Thursday, April 21, 1994 Only One Full Week of Classes Left!
Dunlap incidents question University judicial process
Kurt Hackbarth
Staff Writer
Steve Borla
Contributing Writer
Sophomore Derrick
Dunlap was involved in an off
campus incident with a female
student, also a sophomore, on
March 12, 1994. Although their
stories conflict as to what actually
happened, Dunlap was brought up
on three University charges and
eventually found guilty of
disorderly conduct. Because of
this, a restraining order was placed
on him, which he subsequently
violated, leading to his suspension
from Fairfield University until
January, 1995. The Mirror has
learned, on the basis of interviews
and eyewitness accounts, that
Dunlap was involved in at least
one other incident, the prior
occurring last fall and involving an
assistant coach on the men's
basketball team.
These incidents are
important not only because of the
actions themselves, but because of
the implications they hold
pertaining to issues of student
safety, gender and race relations,
and the consistency with which
Fairfield University deals with
violations of school policy.
Dunlap, who is black, feels that
discrimination,on the basis of
gender, race, and/or authority may
have played a role in how the two
incidents were handled.
On the Friday before
Spring Break, the female student
(who wishes to remain anonymous)
called a friend's room where
Dunlap happened to be staying over
vacation. Because she had an hour
to wait before she was to depart for
Cancun, the student, who is white
and was a prior acquaintance of
Dunlap's, asked if she could stop
up to visit with him. Upon his
request, she agreed to take him to
B.J. 's, for he claims that he said he
needed to buy soap. For the first
few minutes in the car, small talk
ensued. From there, the two stories
diverge. According to both
accounts, Derrick asked the student
for $5. When she refused, Derrick
claims that he started "messing
with her." The student, however,
claims that Derrick continued to
ask for the money, and reached for
her wallet. Dunlap claims he did
no such thing. According to the
student, she grabbed the wallet first
and placed it under her left leg, an
action Dunlap agrees did happen,
although he said he did nothing to
instigate it.At this point, the student
claims that Dunlap was becoming
angrier and angrier, asking
continuously why she could not
lend him the money. Both accounts
testify to his calling her a "bitch",
although she says it was in anger,
while he claims it was in jest. The
student says she asked him if he
had any money, and when he
responded that he did not, she
supposedly asked him, "Then why
am I taking you if you have no
money?" By then, she says, he was
becoming angry to the point that
he was physically shaking, and
began to threaten her with
statements such as "I want to put
your head through the window."
According to Dunlap, he did no
such thing by any means, and says
she is completely overblowing the
events. He does admit that he may
have gone too far in his joking, but
claims he is a "teaser" and that she
never said anything to the effect of
"Leave me alone."
The student recounts that
Dunlap said, "I wish I could just
punch you right now," and
continued to yell at her. She
purportedly responded, "So go
ahead," and prepared herself for a
blow. Dunlap says he did touch
her, but that it was only a minor
open-handed push to the head and
that it was done completely in jest.
The student relates that Dunlap
punched her in the head with a
closed fist, a blow she partially
deflected by raising her hand.
Subsequently, she says she pulled
over and asked him to get out, a
request that he is said to have
rejected by saying, "You get out."
Dunlap says no such action took
place. Following that, the student
claims that she pulled into a side
street and turned around in order to
head back to the University, while
being constantly verbally harassed
with statements like "You're a
bitch."
In Dunlap's account, the
two made it to B.J.'s, but once he
got out of the car she told him that
he needed a card to shop there
which he did not have. She attests
to having told him that while in the
dorm. In Dunlap's version of the
story, he got back in the car and
they headed back to campus, not
stopping anywhere else to purchase
the soap. When they arrived back,
she drove him back to the
townhouses at his request. In her
story, he asked her to drive up
behind the 15 block, which she
feared doing because it was dark
and the area is rather isolated. She
claims that she begged him to get
out of the car for 5-10 minutes,
which he eventually did, slamming
the door as hard as he could and
saying, "You know I hate you,
right?"Dunlap disagrees. He does
say that she was getting
"aggravated" on the trip back, but
no more than that. She says she
was so scared that she could hardly
speak. In his story, he told her
several times that "You know I'm
only joking, right?," a statement
she agrees he said once just before
leaving the car and to which she
nodded out of fear.
Once he left the car, she
says she drove down to the Loyola
parking lot and was found crying
by an Officer while walking in
towards the Security Office. She
made a statement, and claims that
while doing so Dunlap entered the
Security Office and asked ifanyone
had seen her. No such visit is
included in his story. She
subsequently went down to the
Fairfield police station and made a
statement. At the time her
statement was made, no physical
evidence of any bruise or other
bonauto discusses legal rights
of gays and lesbians
Kristen Cunningham
Staff Writer
On Monday, April 18,
Attorney Mary Bonauto gave a
lecture entitled "Sexual Orientation
and the Law." The talk was
sponsored by Campus Ministry.
Bonauto is the director of
the civil rights division of a non-profit,
public interest law firm in
Boston called GLAD, Gay and
Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.
It is one of the first law firms
representing gay and lesbian legal
concerns and covers the entire New
England area.Last year, the firm
received over 2000 calls asking for
help with discrimination cases
based on sexual orientation. These
2000 calls did not include the calls
the firm received concerning rights
of those infected with the HIV
virus. In 1984, the firm hired a
lawyer to work solely on HIV
impact. GLAD consists of three
lawyers and five administrators
who run the firm, which handles
cases involving family, elections,
and violence.
A main topic ofher lecture
was the sodomy laws in the U.S.
Bonauto feels these laws,
"prosecute consenting adults
against loving each other." In 1961,
every state in the union had a law
criminalizing sodomy. Today,
fewer than half the states have
sodomy laws. These laws "are
criminalizing gays," she said.
Bonauto maintains that for
consenting adults to be free to love
each other is, "central to their
identity."
In 1971, there was not a
single law in this country
forbidding discrimination based on
sexual orientation. Now, eight
states, including Connecticut and
the District ofColumbia, have laws
prohibiting job discrimination
against gays and lesbians.
Concerning the need for these laws,
Bonauto says, "anyone who says
these laws are not necessary is out
of touch."
Bonauto told a few "war
stories" to illustrate her point. She
handled a case for two gay men
who were chased out of a used car
lot by the proprietor brandishing a
car antenna. In another case, a
man' s successful career was ended
because, as Bonauto put it, "he was
acting too gay."Another area of
major concern for the gay and
lesbian community is the area of
family law. Gay and lesbian
families are often not regarded as
legitimate families."Recognition
of these families is systematically
denied," said Bonauto. For
example, a gay or lesbian may be
denied entry into his or herpartner's
hospital room because he or she is
not considered "family."Other
concerns include the topic of gay
marriage, still controversial even
in the gay community, and children
ofgay an lesbian parents. Bonauto
commented, "Divorce is hard
enough, but it's even harder when
a gay couple with children splits
up."
Many of the cases
handled byGLADinvolve violence
against gays. According to the US
Department ofJustice,agay person
is 7 times more likely than a straight
person to be the victim of a crime.
25% ofall gay s have been assaulted
because oftheir sexual orientation.
Bonauto closed her talk
by enforcing the idea that anti-discrimination
laws are necessary
for the gay community.
"Something has to be done to stop
the discrimination," said Bonauto.
"We need to learn how to live
together in this country."
Tricia Dawson receives
leadership award
Shelagh Scollin
Contributing Writer
Patricia Dawson '94, of
North Andover, Massachusetts,
was named a National Council of
Catholic Women Leadership
Award winner. Constance Kersten,
President of the Bridgeport
Diocesan Council of Catholic
Women, announced earlier this
month that Tricia was one of two
honorees from the diocese. The
other was Sarah Gauthier ofSacred
Heart University.Tricia received
the Leadership Award at a state-wide
award ceremony on April 16.
In presenting the award, Ms.
Kersten said, "We are truly honored
to recognize the outstanding
leadership, faith, and service
exemplified by Ms. Dawson."
Tricia said, "I am very
excited to see this recognition of
Catholic women—especially
young women with the potential to
renew the Church and make it
strong."
In addition to being a
resident advisor for the past two
years, Tricia is FUSA'a
Coordinator of Arts & Lectures, a
Eucharistic Minister, a soup
kitchen volunteer and a Headstart
intern. She was also a Mission
Volunteer to Ecuador.
Tricia will be a Jesuit
International Volunteer in Cayo,
Belize for two years starting in late
July. When asked what she hoped
to do in Belize, Tricia replied,"As
much as I want to be able to teach
and bring my skills to the people, I
think there will be so much more
forme to learn, about people, about
what it means to be human."
Dawson added, "Some
people say that we should worry
about the poor in our own country
before we start worrying about the
rest of the work, but my country
goes beyond the borders. I really
don't believe that people are all
that different. We are all
interconnected. It's these kinds of
values that I have assimilated into
my thinking while I have been at
Fairfield. It's been gradual, and so
was my decision to do JIV. Gwen
Vendley told me, 'Tricia, when
you make your decision, it won't
be fireworks. It will be more of a
calming presence. You'll just
know.' And that is exactly how it
happened."
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Graduation
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Marchfor
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Alpha Sigma
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new members
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Meet the
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Basketball's
New Recruits
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