Kansas Legislature's research office requests list of university courses
dealing with homosexuality, bisexuality

    The University of Kansas and the state's five other Board of Regents
universities are putting together a list of all courses they teach that
contain content "directly related to the subject of homosexuality or
bisexuality." 
    The list was requested by the Kansas Legislature's research office. No one
is saying which lawmaker wants the list or why, and that, in itself, has
raised concern. 
    "It seems as though the request is not a benign request, because we don't
know who is requesting it and we don't know what the intent is," said
Christine Robinson, a KU graduate teaching assistant in sociology and a member
of the Gay and Lesbian Academic Staff Advocates. 
    "It makes people think they are being watched by the Legislature," she
said, adding that she was worried about potential violations of academic
freedom. 
    A spokeswoman for the Board of Regents said the state's legislative office
asked the regents office for the information last week. The regents office
sent a memo to the six universities last Thursday, asking them to provide the
lists by this Friday. 
    To put their lists together, KU and Kansas State University searched for
key words such as "homosexuality" in their computerized course catalogs. KU
found two classes -- one involving journalism ethics and another involving
medical ethics. 
    K-State did not find any classes. 
    "We know we have some large number of courses that in some way refer to
sexual orientation, but there is no way to know just how many or in what way
without digging through" information regarding the content of hundreds of
courses, said K-State Provost Jim Coffman. That task would be "almost
impossible" and also inappropriate, Coffman said. 
    "The whole idea of a university attaches considerable autonomy to the
faculty both individually and collectively in terms of their assessment of
what appropriate content is. ... It comes under the caption of academic
freedom. It implies there isn't going to be a lot of scrutiny and meddling in
course content," he said. 
    News of the request filtered quickly from department heads to the faculty,
and the issue "just sort of exploded over the weekend," said Dana Britton, an
assistant professor of sociology at K-State. Many professors have exchanged e-
mail messages, she said, and a Web site has been set up at
www.turnleft.com/witchhunt. 
    In Topeka on Wednesday, legislators who were asked said they had no idea
who was behind the request for the course listing. 
    Russell Mills, the senior fiscal analyst who handled the request for the
legislative research office, said his office could not answer any questions.
Legislative inquiries are considered confidential, he said. 
    Senate President Dick Bond of Overland Park said he hoped legislators did
not become engaged in the "micromanagement" of elective course offerings at
the regents institutions.