CAREER FAIR WEEK `Progressive’ Job Fair Postponed By Amanda McGrath Hoya Staff Writer

A “progressive” career fair originally scheduled for Thursday was canceled Wednesday night after questions arose about the inclusion of groups with views that conflict with the university’s Catholic identity.

The fair, organized by GUPride and H*yas for Choice, a group not recognized by the university, would have featured guest groups like Catholics for Choice, the American Association of University Women and Amnesty International. It had been approved by the Student Activities Commission and was to be held yesterday in the Leavey Program Room.

“Last night, the vice president for student affairs [Juan Gonzalez] requested that the progressive career fair be postponed after receiving a list of the potential organizations invited to attend,” Assistant Vice President for Communications Julie Green Bataille said. “Some also advocate issues counter to Catholic Church teaching.”

According to some organizers, the on-campus presence of views that differ from those held by the Catholic Church should not be prohibited.

“I personally feel sad if that’s the real reason. I understand some groups may be contrary to the Catholic teachings, but the reality is that there are other beliefs out there and there are a lot of students here who are not Catholic,” H*yas For Choice board member Kelsey Becker (COL ’02) said. “It’s just unfortunate that these wider viewpoints are not allowed to have a voice on our campus.”

Green Bataille said the receipt of the list of organizations and the subsequent questions arose too late to be addressed before the fair’s scheduled date.

“Given the late hour yesterday, there was not sufficient time to fully understand the spectrum of issues involved and the work of all of the organizations. As a result, event organizers were asked to postpone their efforts today and work with the Career Center, which already has a practice for enabling organizations to recruit on campus, in planning future events.”

H*yas for Choice board member Betsy Illingworth (SFS ’02) said the cancelation of the fair had not been anticipated. “It was very unexpected, H*yas for Choice didn’t hear until 9 p.m. the night before.”

Becker said the fair was intended to provide interested students with access to job and internship opportunities they might not find at other on-campus career fairs. “[Organizers wanted] to offer students a wider range of options. We arranged for it to be held on the same day as the MBNA fair so interested students could easily go to both and would already be dressed up and have resumes,” Illingworth

According to Becker, the future of the fair is uncertain. “It was a lot of work just to get everything together only to have such a sudden cancelation. At this point we need to talk to the administration if we are going to do it again, but right now, I don’t know if it will happen,” she said.

Becker said the groups she contacted to announce the cancelation were understanding. She said they invited her to stay in contact with them about future events on campus.