Gay Conference

The resurgence of ROTC, health care issues, and organizational problems headed the agenda of the first Northeast Lesbian and Gay Student Activists Conference, held Saturday and Sunday in Sever Hall.

The conference, sponsored by the Boston Intercollegiate Lesbian and Gay Alliance, drew 75 delegates and representatives from 28 colleges.

Delegates attended films and workshops on such topics as group motivation, faculty relations, and the gaps between graduate and undergraduate gay communities.

One workshop focused on the Reserve Officers Training Corps, which does not admit homosexuals. Conference spokesman Michael R. Sullivan, a graduate of the University of Delaware, called the presence of the ROTC a "philosophical-ethical issue" and likened collegiate sponsorship of the ROTC to official recognition of the Ku Klux Klan.

Harvard recently agreed to help pay for the ROTC program at MIT, which enrolls approximately 50 Harvard students.

Another prominent issue, said Sullivan, is "outreach," the ability of campus gay/lesbian associations to encourage wider participation.

Participants also said that providing an inter-collegiate network would help their efforts.