Baylor University denies charter to gay student group

Allison Ignacio - KWTX

WACO (March 3, 2011)-- More than 60 gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender students and several of their straight allies, met Thursday night at Baylor University for an unofficial meeting.

Their GLBT group, the Sexual Identity Forum, was denied a charter by Baylor University Wednesday.

Baylor senior Samantha Jones, who openly identifies herself as gay, said that she started the group in November 2010 after realizing the need for a GLBT organization on campus.

"Being a gay student at Baylor over the past four years I've felt neglected, not necessarily abused by the university but intentionally neglected," Jones said.

In January 2011, SIF applied to be chartered as an official Baylor organization. The Student Activities Charter Review Committee, which is made up of three staff members and two students, denied to recommend SIF's charter application to the Vice President for Student Life, who makes the official decision to charter an organization or not.

SIF revised their application but was denied a second time Wednesday.

Baylor University spokesperson Lori Fogleman said that the review committee was very forthcoming from the beginning of the process.

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