SoCo Chair Erica Hewes '02 and Secretary Meredith De Meules '02 deny that any such complaints were made after last year's Computer Dating TAP or prior to this year's event.
But Forest Shultz '01, who served on SoCo until after Computer Dating TAP this year, said that "last year, [SoCo] received several complaints from gay rights advocacy groups in regard to Computer Dating TAP and Screw Your Roommate TAP."
After this year's Computer Dating TAP, John Abodeely '01 filed a complaint charging SoCo with violating the College's Statement on Respect For Persons and the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities. "The actions of the Social Council are discriminatory," wrote Abodeely. "In light of Amherst's own rules of conduct, the Social Counsel is excluding from a 'campus-wide' social function a particular group of students who identify themselves as homosexual."
Abodeely wants a student disciplinary panel convened to hear his complaint. "I believe that this situation has not in the past and cannot be 'resolved through amicable discussion,'" wrote Abodeely.
Computer Dating TAP is based on a survey which students fill out a week before the event. The surveys are sent to Computer-Fun, a company which assembles lists of compatible people, and results are given to participating students at TAP in the form of 10 compatible people of the opposite sex, two "best friend" matches of the same sex, and two incompatible matches of the opposite sex.
Eric Thalasinos '02, who also filed a discrimination complaint, objected to the label "best friends."
"If you're going to label something dating, 'best friends' doesn't cut it," said Thalasinos. "'Best friends' is overtly homophobic or overtly ignorant."
Thalasinos said that he discussed this concern with SoCo last year, and was optimistic that the surveys would be changed this year.
According to De Meules, Computer-Fun, which uses pre-set forms, was the only company SoCo could find.
"Had it been custom done for us, the language probably would have been more ambiguous in both categories (same-sex and opposite-sex matches) so that no one would be able to get offended," added Shultz.
According to De Meules, SoCo requested that Computer-Fun provide same sex matches.
"I am personally sorry that anyone got upset by this third party company's printout format," said Shultz. "But I would hope that the Amherst gay community could show a little of the understanding towards the Social Council that the Amherst straight community so often lacks towards Amherst homosexuals."
According to Hewes, a meeting with the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgendered Alliance (now the Queer Union of Amherst College) last year caused SoCo to change Screw Your Roommate TAP to allow people to be paired with people of either sex. "[If SoCo] was aware that people felt [the survey] was discrimination, we would have tried to come up with another way to do it, or have a compromise, like Screw Your Roommate TAP," Hewes said.
According to Shultz, SoCo offered students the option of signing up for same-sex matches at last year's Computer Dating TAP. He added that no same-sex forms were returned because there were not enough filled out. Thalasinos stated that students who signed up for same-sex matches at last year's Computer Dating TAP were either given forms with opposite sex matches or no forms at all.
Hewes denied that a same sex option was ever offered. "I think that people are confusing Computer Dating TAP with Screw Your Roommate TAP," she said.
Thalasinos said that he wants SoCo to make all its events equally accessible to all students, regardless of sexual preference.
"It needs not only to be cautious of actively discriminating, but actively promoting a welcome environment for students regardless of their sexual orientation," said Thalasinos.
Dean of Students Ben Lieber has referred the complaint to Assistant Dean of Students Samuel Haynes, who oversees SoCo. "We hope for a relatively quick resolution of it," said Lieber. Haynes will speak with both parties this week.
Thalasinos and Abodeely said that they want the Disciplinary Committee to decide the issue. "There are actions I don't think SoCo would take unless they were told to by a disciplinary council," Abodeely told The Student, adding that if SoCo faces no consequences at the end of the process, he might take further action.
"If there are no consequences, the College has, I think, taken a stance on discrimination and, this is pending, but it would be valid to charge the College with discrimination," said Abodeely.
"There haven't been specific complaints regarding an individual or an organization, to my knowledge, in 16 years," Lieber said.