United Way of Dutchess County New York and Vassar College

[eisely]

Here we go again.

 

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Vassar College drops United Way fund

Cites Boy Scouts' policy on gays

By Anthony Farmer

Poughkeepsie Journal

 

Vassar College has decided it will not participate in the United Way's fund-raising campaign, which raises millions of dollars annually to support health and human service programs in Dutchess County.

A controversial decision by United Way of Dutchess County to continue to fund the Boy Scouts of America -- despite the group's policy regarding homosexuals -- is the reason for Vassar's withdrawal.

 

Vassar College President Frances Fergusson said in light of the college's own strict nondiscrimination policy, it would be wrong for the school to participate in the United Way campaign, now under way.

 

''We think it's an affirmation of the human dignity we afford to everyone on our campus,'' Fergusson said Wednesday of the school's decision. ''As an institution, we didn't feel we should be participating in the strong way we always have in the past with the United Way, when they weren't asking the Boy Scouts of America to adhere to a policy of nondiscrimination on sexual-orientation issues.''

 

United Way of Dutchess County President and CEO James Williamson said Vassar's decision will have a significant financial impact on the organization's campaign. Vassar helped raise $77,000 for the United Way last year, 92 percent of that going to the Community Fund -- where donations are pooled and given to agencies and programs where the need is the greatest.

 

''We're obviously disappointed in their decision but we certainly respect it,'' Williamson said of Vassar College. ''This creates a hole we have to fill. It's a challenge for us, but we believe we're up to the challenge.''

 

Upheld by high court

 

Across the country, funding for Boy Scouts has become a controversial issue because the Scouts refuse to allow gays to take leadership roles in the organization.

 

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts policy prohibiting openly gay members from becoming troop leaders was constitutional.

 

The local United Way board adopted a revised nondiscrimination policy earlier this year that asks member agencies to certify that they don't discriminate against people within that group's ''target population.''

 

If a group receiving funds is found to violate the agreement, funding can be cut off.

 

But the Boy Scouts have said its target population includes those who believe in traditional family values, which would exclude homosexuals.

 

Officials from the Boy Scouts of America Hudson Valley Council were not immediately available to comment.

 

Williamson said he was not aware of other businesses or institutions pulling their support over the Boy Scouts issue.

 

But Regis Obijiski, executive director of New Horizons Resources, said he is altering the way he supports the United Way. When donating to the local United Way, he will designate which groups should receive the money, instead of donating to the Community Fund.

 

''I feel that they've made a fundamental mistake here,'' Obijiski said of the United Way's decision on the Boy Scouts. ''It's a conscience thing for me. The employees of New Horizons, I basically said to them they can do what they wish in this regard, but they know where I stood.''

 

Vassar still plans to help raise funds for selected community service groups through its new ''Community Works'' campaign. Ten recipients are being selected to benefit from ''Community Works'' and details are still being worked out.