(From left to ri ht)

Bob Edkins an Ed Robichaud

Renee Risingsong and Fred Pond

The Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, and Bi-
sexual Concerns at Dartmouth celebrat-
ed their one year anniversary by sharing
birthday cake decorated with pink tri-
angles while several members signed
and notarized their affidavits of_do—
mestic partnership.

The Coalition was formed in November
of 1992 with one of several goals being
to obtain benefits to domestic partners
by the beginning of 1994. Almost as
soon as this goal was articulated by the
Coalition, the Dartmouth College ad-
ministration quickly engaged in dis-
cussion on how to bring about this
change. A Coalition Benefits Sub-
committee provided the college with an
acceptable definition and criteria for de-
claring a domestic partnership. Coalition
members felt strongly that they did not
want to be held to a more stringent stan-
dard than married couples—this would
continue to be a form of discrimination.
Employees are fortunate that the college

photo by John C. Crane

agreed that no specific duration of part-
nership or evidence of certain financial
ties would be required. College officials
and coalition members worked together
in a task force to help the college to
broaden its definition of “family” to in-
clude same-sex domestic partners and
their dependent children by July 1,
1993.

The college instituted this new policy
with the intent that same-sex domestic
partners be treated in a manner fully eq-
uitable to married spouses in all aspects
of college life, to the fullest extent per-
mitted by law. Benefits are extended
also to the children of employees’ do-
mestic partners, including medical, den-
tal, retirement benefits, library and lock-
er privileges (to name a few.)

Extensive research was done by the sub-
committee, and material from other in-
stitutions with which Dartmouth often
compares itself was reviewed. Most in-
stitutions, with the exception of Middle-
bury, have declined to extend these
benefits to heterosexual domestic part-
ners saying that they did have the op-
tion of marriage, while same-sex part-
ners did not. Dartmouth has followed
this thinking and limited the benefits to
same-sex domestic partners, though the
Coalition urged that all domestic part-
ners be covered.

Dartmouth College requires the signing
of an “Affidavit of Domestic Partner-
ship” to recognize a relationship. The
signing may be notarized at the college
Human Resources office or, to protect
the confidentiality of employees, a no-
tary public outside the college may be
enlisted. Dartmouth does not require
married partners to sign a similar form,
rationalizing that a marriage license pro-
vides the necessary legal document.
Some college employees signed the af-
fidavit without needing the benefits, but
wanted to have the document on file, to
give added weight to beneficiary des-

January 1994

ignations. One potential drawback to the
Dartmouth Affidavit is the line which
reads: “ .... ..would marry or establish a
legally recognized Domestic Partnership
if it were available to us under the laws
of the state in which the employee Do-
mestic Partner resides.” This may con-
cern some gay, lesbian, and/or bisexual
employees who take issue with the in-
stitutionalization of relationships.

Middlebury College extended benefits to
their staff effective September 1 (No-
vember OITM) Effective January 1,
1994 Dartmouth College will join other
institutions offering same-sex domestic
partner benefits. Those institutions in-
clude Stanford, Columbia, Harvard,
Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology, and the Universities of Iowa,
Chicago, Minnesota, and Vermont.

Folks left the party saying that the only
oversight was bumper stickers for those
who signed saying “Just Notarized!!V

 

(From left to right)
Mickey Carter and Alison Ashe

photo by John C. Crane

802-773-8990
(FAX) 802-775-6655

ABV SALES, INC.

ADULT MERCHANDISE - WHOLESALE I RETAIL
VIDEOS;NDVELTIES;PRIVATE BDOTHS;MAG5

156 WEST ST.
RUTLAND. VERMONT 05701

Aiméc S. Green

 

U.

(802) 660-9238

15