In February, Alex Morse '11 filled out an application to become a Residential Peer Leader. At the top of the page, he checked off two boxes: one next to "Resident Counselor" and one next to "Women Peer Counselor." Morse was the only male this year in a pool of 51 WPC applicants.
On March 19, Morse found out that he had been accepted as an RC but not as one of the 22 selected WPCs. Morse said he is entirely content with being an RC next year.
"I wanted to increase my chances of being a C," Morse said. But, he added, "I wouldn't have applied to be a WPC if I didn't feel like I was qualified and able to be a WPC."
In high school, Morse ran a local sexual health program for youth, he said. His junior year, he lobbied in Washington, D.C., for reproductive rights and comprehensive sexual education. Morse also founded his high school's Gay-Straight Alliance.
Morse has continued to pursue his interest in gender and sexuality issues at Brown, both in and out of the classroom. He is a member of the Queer Alliance and is currently taking GNSS 0120: "Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies."
Morse said his WPC encouraged him to apply for the position and wrote his recommendation for the Residential Peer Leader application. It was emphasized at information sessions for prospective RPLs he attended that males could apply to be WPCs, he said.
While one of Morse's interviewers during the RPL application process was a WPC, she did not address the influence his gender identity might have on his ability to be an effective WPC.
"There were never specific questions to me about my qualifications to be a WPC because I'm a male," Morse said. "There were some general questions given to all WPC applicants."
Morse's application reflects an ongoing debate about the WPC program's identity and goals. While a 2006 report assessing the program said WPCs should "identify as and live their lives as women," the report urges continual reassessment, and some WPCs and administrators have said a male applicant with the proper qualifications could become a WPC. Some students, however, said a male WPC could cause discomfort for residents or be contradictory to the program's goals.
Natalie Basil, associate director of residential programs in the Office of Residential Life, said she hopes that RPL positions are such that students feel free to apply for any position, regardless of identity.
Rosario Navarro, project manager in the Office of the Vice President of Campus Life and Student Services, who held Basil's position last year, said she didn't know of any male WPCs to date.
But male students have applied to become WPCs in Navarro's time with the program. "It has come up as a situation to consider," she said.
Basil said the RPL application does not ask for the applicant's gender and that the applicants' names and personal information are kept confidential from the selection committee, composed of students and staff members who haven't interviewed the applicants.
"I would be open to the idea of having a male WPC if he really understood the program's goals," said Marina Byrne-Folan '09, a current WPC rep and a member of the selection committee. But she also said one of the most valuable components of her experience as a WPC has been the community of "strong, opinionated women" she has joined.
First-years divided on male WPCs
The opinions of freshmen interviewed by The Herald on going to a male WPC for guidance differed greatly.
"I would be more comfortable talking to a girl about personal issues," said Julia Goldner '11. But she added, "Who's to say a WPC must be a woman if, in reality, a WPC is just as much of a friend to males as females?"
Goldner said she thinks "Brown is the kind of place where the innovative is accepted and can thrive," and because of that, the possibility of a male WPC can't be discounted.
She added that the approachability and friendliness of a WPC is more important than the WPC's gender identity.
Aminy Ostfeld '11 said that if the WPC program accepted a male student and he were trained as a WPC, she would talk to him if she had to.
"But I would feel weird," she added.
On the other hand, Dani Candelora '11 said if her WPC were male, she would never come to him for counsel. Candelora said that if a woman is sexually assaulted, she doesn't think that the woman could feel comfortable going to a male WPC for counseling after the incident.
Tom Caron '11 said he thinks a male WPC would not be "appropriate."
"I just believe the Women Peer Counselor is a woman peer," he said.
Michael Hogan '11 said that males could be WPCs, but that he understands why female students might be uncomfortable with that.
But he added, "If they had a Man Peer Counselor, I don't think anyone would go to that." Hogan said he feels comfortable approaching his female WPC about personal issues and that he thinks males tend to confide in females. "A girl is just a better person to open up to," Hogan said.
Andria Payne '10, a current WPC, said she enjoys the support of her fellow WPCs but does not think a male counselor would change the group's dynamic if he were qualified to be a WPC.
Male applicants are taken seriously if they apply seriously, she said.
But, she added, "I haven't personally come across a male who could do the job as required."
Payne emphasized that an applicant's ability to reach out to first-years is more important than his or her gender identification.
"Every single person who walks through this world looks through different lenses based on their identity - gender, identity, race, socioeconomic class," Basil said.
"Your identity absolutely influences who you are and how you lead and how you think about the world," she said. Consequently, it is difficult to say if a male applicant would be qualified to relate to first-year students as a WPC, she added.
Basil and Navarro stressed the importance of collective decision-making in shaping the course of the program's future.
"I don't try to move the program or limit the program based on my own personal thoughts or beliefs, but to try to really listen to students and what they're bringing to the table," Basil said.
Woman or Women Peer Counselor?
Currently, a committee of current and former WPCs, administrators and a Residential Council member is evaluating the recommendations in the April 2006 report as well as their implementation.
The 2006 committee, which included then-current and former WPCs, WPC coordinators and an RC coordinator, examined the possibility of having a male WPC, the name of the WPC program and the program's purpose.
"We have concluded that the WPC program should invite applications from individuals who identify as and live their lives as women," the report stated.
The report also established a mission statement for the WPC program that says one goal of the program is "to be a community of women who model confidence for first-year students."
The mission statement identifies other goals for the WPC program, such as encouraging discussion and promoting awareness of issues including sexism, eating disorders, sexual assault, birth control and safer sex.
Another stated goal was "to be a resource to first-years and other RPLs, as well as the greater campus community."
"It certainly would be a disservice to think that males don't benefit from their (WPCs) presence in the residential communities as well," Navarro said.
Basil agreed, saying that "the WPCs feel they serve both the male and female students on campus."
The Office of Student Life and members of the student group Brown Against Rape and Sexism founded the program in 1983, according to the WPC job description. Basil said that BARS, a group of female students, wanted to increase campus awareness of women's issues and create "a place for women to feel like they had a resource."
"I think that there are still issues that face college women today th
at are unique to college women," Basil said.
The 2006 report also asserted that while "WPCs seek to create a safe space for students of all gender identifications," creating "a safe space for women as women" is an important part of what they do as well.
The controversy over the name of the WPC position reflects the debate over its purpose.
The 2006 report recommended the name "Woman Peer Counselors," but the position is currently titled "Women Peer Counselor."
"Namely we are counselors who are women (Woman Peer Counselors), but not counselors just for women ('Women Peer Counselors')," the report said. It considered changing the name of the position, suggesting other titles, such as "gender and sexuality peer counselors, gender peer counselors and resource peer counselors."
But the name "Woman Peer Counselor" recognizes the unique issues women confront while also acknowledging that counseling for women is only one part of the program, the report concluded. The current WPC job description says that WPCs counsel "men and women at Brown."
WPCs for all
Sometimes first-years don't immediately see the job that way.
"It sounds like they're meant to be just for women," Ostfeld said.
Ostfeld also said she felt that the name of the program could have sexist implications, like that "women will need help because they're women."
The program's name is a frequent subject of discussion among WPCs, Byrne-Folan said, since some feel it doesn't encapsulate all that WPCs do.
But, she said, "it's very hard to come up with an alternative name."
"I'm torn on it," said Payne, a WPC. "We are a group of women who are peer counselors."
But in Payne's experience, the name has caused confusion. She said the parents of one of her male first-years approached her at the beginning of the year and asked where the "Male Peer Counselor" was. "My son can't go to you?" Payne said they asked.
But, she added, the question "gives you a chance to explain what you do."
The current committee first met in January to re-evaluate the 2006 report's recommendations, Basil said. Former WPCs and WPC reps will have a voice in any decision-making process about changing the name or how the program functions, she added.
Though Navarro said she believes there are issues unique to specific generations, she added that she thinks the core of the WPC program has remained the same.
"The reality is that sexism still exists," Navarro said. "It's important to continue to keep women's voices at the forefront of those movements."
