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| 07-29-2002 | Previous edition: 07-26-2002 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Boy Scouts' stay at Purdue causes conflictBy Jason GulleySummer Reporter A group of Boy Scouts that stayed in a Purdue University residence hall on their way to a scouting conference has raised some questions about the use of University Residence Halls for summer conferences. A Purdue staff member perusing the university conferences schedule last week noticed a listing for a conference hosted by the Boy Scouts of America. Hoping to confront the group about their policy of excluding homosexuals, atheists and women, the staff member phoned Kathy Gallagher, a conference operations manager in the university residences department. According to a July 23 e-mail sent by the staff member, he discovered the university was not hosting a scouting conference but was merely letting the Boy Scout group stay at the university overnight. When he called other conference workers in the department, he was informed groups are not permitted to stay in the residence halls unless they are part of a conference. Similar inquiries made by The Exponent confirmed the conference requirements. According to Joe Bennett, director of university relations, Purdue doesn’t usually allow groups to use the residence halls like motels, but exceptions are occasionally made. "We try to avoid competing with the local hospitality industry," Bennett said. When asked about the circumstances surrounding the Boy Scouts’ approval to stay at the university, Gallagher demanded to know how The Exponent obtained its information, hung up the phone and refused to comment. Gallagher also refused to confirm any of the policies concerning staying in the residence halls. Bennett said the university had played host to the Boy Scouts in the past and the group was staying in Hillenbrand Hall as part of a recruiting event, similar to Day on Campus. He also said admissions counselors had set up an information booth and had counselors in the halls to answer questions and talk to the group. "This was a very convenient business arrangement and a way to recruit new students," Bennett said. Bennett said special arrangements of this sort could be made for any "comparable group" but the university deals with such exceptions on a case-by-case basis. He added that the Boy Scouts were charged $17.25 per person to stay the night. Bennett would not comment on whether other groups had been granted or denied similar lodging arrangements. Jerry Ripke, an admissions counselor familiar with the recruiting efforts, said the Boy Scouts didn’t want a presentation about attending Purdue and that admission efforts were limited to making mail-in interest cards available. "The general thought was that we didn’t want to make them feel like we were soliciting Purdue," Ripke said. Printer-friendly version |
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