Course content questioned 



State probes gay, bisexual class material 




 By Gerry Doyle and Brandon Copple 

gdoyle@kansan.com 

bcopple@kansan.com 

Kansan staff writers 

A request from the Kansas Legislature is targeting classes with 
homosexual or bisexual content. 

The request, which requires all Regents schools to report any classes 
with content directly related to homosexuality or bisexuality, came 
through the Board of Regents, said Provost David Shulenburger. 

The request came from the Legislative Research Department in Topeka and 
was unaccompanied by an explanation or the name of the legislator behind 
it, he said. 

Leah Robinson of Legislative Research said that the agency could not 
identify which legislators initiated research requests. 

The University must respond to the inquiry because it is a public 
institution, Shulenburger said. Although the reason for the inquiry is 
unclear, an attempt to change course content would be unacceptable, he 
said. 

³There isn´t any basis for imputing motives right now,² he said. ³But I 
think our courses are appropriate given what we´re training students to 
do. If we are required to change them, it becomes an academic freedom 
issue.² 

Shulenburger said the provost´s office used the terms ³homosexuality² 
and ³bisexuality² in a search of University course descriptions. Two 
courses turned up, he said: JOUR 605, Media Ethics and HPMD 911, a 
medical ethics class at the University of Kansas Medical Center. 

The request did not bode well for students or for community diversity, 
said Christine Robinson, Lawrence graduate student and sociology 
teaching assistant. 

Robinson said nothing good could come from the request, despite the lack 
of information about its origins. 

³I don´t think its intent is benign,² she said. ³This sends a message to 
people who are teaching that they are being watched. It´s social 
control.² 

Limiting the academic atmosphere with legislation would almost certainly 
hurt students, said Terry Huerter, Lake Quivira senior. 

Keeping students from taking classes in an area labeled offensive by 
some would hinder learning as a whole, he said. 

³It makes me wonder what the legislature wants it for,² he said. ³If 
something bad comes of this, it´s the next round of civil rights not 
being upheld.² 







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