Dr. Angela McCaskill, chief diversity officer at Gallaudet University, a federally chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing located in Washington, D.C., was put on paid administrative leave Wednesday, October 10. The decision was made after the school discovered that McCaskill had signed a petition at her church to reverse Maryland’s same-sex marriage law, reports NBC News. McCaskill has worked at the school for 23 years in various different roles, and was the first deaf African American female to earn a Ph.D. from Gallaudet.
Planet DeafQueer blog reported on Monday that a Gallaudet faculty member saw McCaskill’s name on the document, and yesterday Gallaudet University President T. Alan Hurwitz made an official statement placing McCaskill on leave.
“It recently came to my attention that Dr. McCaskill has participated in a legislative initiative that some feel is inappropriate for an individual serving as Chief Diversity Officer,” he said. “However, others feel differently … I will use the extended time while she is on administrative leave to determine the appropriate next steps taking into consideration the duties of this position at the university.”
Hurwitz is correct in stating that there are many different perspectives on the university’s decision to place McCaskill on leave. Predictably, The Family Research Council (which has been labeled a hate organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center) wants the university fined and Hurwitz fired, but this is the same group who endorsed a suggestion that LGBT people and sexually-active single women should be barred from working as teachers, so you can’t take their perspective too seriously. More interestingly, Marylanders for Marriage Equality has also come out strongly against the decision to put McCaskill on leave.
“We strongly disagree with the decision … and hope she is reinstated immediately,” Josh Levin, campaign manager of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, said in a statement. “Everyone is entitled to free speech and to their own opinion about Question 6 (the referendum on the ballot), which is about treating everyone fairly and equally under the law.”
The issue is tricky because on the one hand, it does seem dangerous to punish a staff member for an opinion they hold and acted on in their own personal time away from their job, and yet on the other hand it seems problematic to know that the chief diversity officer of a university, a position that is designed to ensure equal opportunity for all students, is personally against a law that would grant equality for all citizens of Maryland. The key seems to be ensuring that McCaskill’s personal beliefs about marriage equality do not hinder her ability to do her job and make students feel safe and welcome to approach her.
Personally, I don’t know that I would be comfortable confiding in a diversity officer if I knew they opposed my right to marry under the law. It will be up to Hurwitz to decide if McCaskill is fit to do her job in spite of her personal beliefs and political actions outside of the school environment. In the meantime, Hurwitz announced that an interim Chief Diversity Officer will be announced in the near future.
Photo: gallaudet.edu
