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Pace appointment to university chair riles gays

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace will meet Thursday with student leaders, including gay advocates, concerned about his appointment to a chair at IU’s business school.

Pace, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 2005 to 2007, publicly likened homosexuality to adultery in March 2007, calling it immoral. He later said he should have not expressed his personal views.

The Herald-Times reported Wednesday that advocates for IU’s gay community were disappointed by Pace’s appointment to the Poling Chair, a two-year post at the Kelley School of Business during which he will meet with students to discuss leadership.

Among those Pace will meet informally with Thursday are Doug Bauder, coordinator of IU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services office, and Byron Craig, an IU masters student and member of the GLBT Alumni Association who said he sees the meeting as an opportunity.

“It should create more productive dialogue,” Craig said. “I really want to understand, how do you think voicing and having so blatantly stated your feelings about a certain part of the population — do you think it affects your ability to be an effective leader?”

Bauder said he was dismayed to learn of Pace’s appointment and openly wondered whether a person who had made racist comments would receive such an appointment.

“It doesn’t seem that this issue has the same importance,” Bauder said.

Kelley School of Business Dean Dan Smith, who makes the final decision on Poling Chair appointees, has made diversifying the school’s faculty and student body a top priority in the coming years.

Smith said Pace’s “perspective on gays in the military does not correspond with the Kelley School’s view on diversity.”

“Having General Pace with us is not intended as an endorsement of his personal beliefs at all,” he said. “We’re asking him to engage our students in a discussion on a wide range of issues. We want our students to be exposed to a variety of perspectives.”

Poling Chairs typically visit IU campuses a few times a year, giving lectures and visiting classrooms. Smith said the position is funded by a private donor, not the state. Smith would not disclose the financial compensation.

Pace’s first lecture for business students is scheduled for Friday morning with Clorox chairman and CEO Donald Knauss.