Leading By Example

Leading By Example
By: MANNY ROMERO
04/12/2007 Copyright by Gay City

Dr. Charles R. "Chuck" Middleton, and Ralph Hexter of Hampshire College in Massachusetts are the only university presidents in the U.S. who are openly gay.

Dr. Charles R. "Chuck" Middleton is one of two openly gay university presidents in the United States. Since July 2002, he has served as the fifth president of Roosevelt University, with campuses on South Michigan Avenue, just west of Grant Park and Lake Michigan, in downtown Chicago and in northwest suburban Schaumburg.

"I'm actually six months older than the university," said Middleton, who earned a B.A. degree with honors in history from Florida State University and holds both an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Duke University. "I think I'm the only university president who can say that. Maybe I should keep that to myself."

Middleton's academic expertise is 18th and 19th century British history. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he is the author of "The Administration of British Foreign Policy, 1782-1846."

Beginning his career as a university professor 36 years ago, Middleton has served as an administrator in recent years at an array of institutions. Prior to joining Roosevelt, he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Bowling Green State University in Kentucky, and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Maryland.

"I really enjoy working in higher education," he said. "Today's colleges challenge individuals to look at the world and learn about its complexity and they help students evolve along with it."

Roosevelt University (http://www.roosevelt.edu) was founded in 1945 as an independent, non-sectarian, co-education institution of higher learning. Its founders were determined to make higher education available to all students who could qualify academically. Considerations of social or economic class, racial or ethnic origin, sex, or age were from the start irrelevant in determining who was admitted - a policy still not widespread at that time. Originally named Thomas Jefferson College, the new school was renamed Roosevelt College in recognition of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's democratic ideals and values.

As president of Roosevelt University, Middleton takes great pride in serving one of the most diverse private universities in the U.S.
"We welcome everyone who's here and who wants to be here," he says of Roosevelt, which currently has 7,400 students and more than 500 faculty members. "It's important to provide an atmosphere that will help maintain that passion in students who want to learn. We provide the best education for everyone who's there."

Building on Roosevelt's historic commitment to social justice and student success, Middleton is proudest of his successes in working closely with faculty, staff, and the board of trustees to develop and implement a comprehensive university plan that focuses on providing quality education to its students and a healthy work environment for its faculty and staff.

Middleton and Ralph Hexter of Hampshire College, a small liberal arts institution in Massachusetts, are the only university presidents who are openly gay.

"For whatever reason, fear of getting fired or fear of total acceptance, it's a shame more academic leaders can't take that step," Middleton said.
Middleton and his partner John Geary have been together for more than 25 years. Geary is a professor of Spanish and Portuguese and chair of the department of foreign languages at Northeastern Illinois University, also in Chicago.

"We met at the University of Colorado, Boulder, when we were both on the faculty there," he said. "Times were different then. Gay issues were not discussed as openly as they are now. That's not to say things are great in today's world. I think we as a community are just beginning to be heard."

Gay discrimination in professional fields vary; however, said Middleton, "It's not easy to compare levels of difficulty and struggle between groups with any certainty, especially when everyone wonders at some level whether they personally have the ability to succeed or even get a job in their field of expertise."

In higher education, Middleton said, there are still challenges presented to openly gay professionals who want to move up in the administrative ranks.

"Despite their liberalism on so many issues, and despite a more accepting atmosphere on campus than exists in many other places, the fact is that there still are many people who are uncomfortable with or even hate LGBT individuals," he said. "This too often leads to subtle unacceptance of a sort that is analogous to that faced by other groups, even in these generally progressive places called campuses. Some of it is based upon discomfort with us...but some is just outright hostility that makes its way into both subtle and covert comments and resistance to giving opportunity to members of our community."

To illustrate, Middleton presents the following example: "A candidate for a job, a gay man, is politely interviewed, and many like his work, on a non-gay topic, though they are a bit uncomfortable with his personal manner of presentation, which is expressive in ways not normally found in such interviews. In the hiring discussion, held in confidence, there is a discussion of his sexual orientation as a factor in his being a colleague in the unit and how students might respond to his lecturing style. There are many disclaimers on why that is not important. Then in a secret ballot the other candidate is hired instead."

"I have heard these conversations with regard to both gay men and lesbians, but I have never heard them with regard to people of color or straight women," Middleton said. "Or perhaps, I should state that when I was closeted I heard them a lot; now, at least in my presence, they don't happen. What always surprised me when fear kept me silent was how many people who are progressive in every way, or so I thought, could be so harsh to another human being for these reasons."

Middleton's contributions since coming out as a gay man and engaging in community work were acknowledged in November 2006, when he was inducted into Chicago's Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame.

As an out gay man, Middleton is active both in professional academic circles and in community organizations throughout Chicago. He serves as a Fellow of the Institute for International Education, a group founded in 1919 to increase ties between American universities and high education institutions worldwide, and a member of the American Council on Education. He is involved with the American Historical Association and the North American Conference on British Studies and is active in the National Association - as well as Illinois Federation - of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Middleton serves on three leading city planning organizations - the Chicago Loop Alliance, the Chicago Central Area Committee, and the Near South Planning Board - and is also a member of leading civic groups, including the city's Rotary One, the Economic Club, and the Executives' Club. He is on the board of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park, New York.

Middleton is also active with the Chicago LGBT community's Center on Halstead, the Point Foundation, which provides scholarships to promising LGBT college students who lack family support, and at the Chicago Historical Society is on the Community Advisory Council for "Out at CHS."

"I think it's important to serve as a mentor to members of our community," he said, "especially when you are shaping the lives of future leaders. College campuses serve as training ground for the real world. Unfortunately, the real world can be even more challenging and less accepting of us. That's why it's important to get involved."