Tucker Foundation

The Tucker Foundation was established in 1951 by the Board of Trustees “for the purpose of supporting and furthering the moral and spiritual work and influence of Dartmouth College.”1 In its first 25 years, it developed not only religious programs but also programs for social issues and community involvement.2

In the latter half of the 1970s, when gay Dartmouth students were just becoming visible, the Dean of the Tucker Foundation, Warner Traynham ’57, led the Foundation in advocating for gay rights. He opened up discussions on gay issues and created spaces where gay people could speak for themselves.

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Gay Advocacy Through the Tucker Foundation

In the summer of 1976, as part of its 25th anniversary celebration, the Tucker Foundation held a panel on Contemporary Sexual Values.3 When Traynham was inviting potential panelists, he reached out to the Seacoast Area Gay Alliance, writing that “the other two panelists will probably be professional ethicists, but there are relatively few professional ethicists to represent the perspective of gay people.”4 Including a speaker to represent the gay community was important to Traynham, and he hoped that the panel would “provide a context for addressing” Dartmouth’s lack of a gay student organization.5

Flyer advertising a Tucker Foundation lecture entitled, "Can One Be Gay/Lesbian and Christian?"
The Tucker Foundation, the Women’s Studies Program, and the GSA co-sponsored this lecture on gayness and Christianity6
In 1982, the Tucker Foundation sponsored a lecture entitled “Can One Be Gay/Lesbian and Christian?” The Gay Students Association and the Women’s Studies Program also worked with the Tucker Foundation on the event.7

In response to the Tri-Kap purge in 1984, Tucker held a fireside chat called Social Awareness and Sexual Preference.8 Around that same time, David Seidenberg ’85 formed Straights for Gay Rights, a group that “would write letters and provide support for folks,” through the Tucker Foundation.9

Advocacy by Dean Traynham

Dean Traynham published a series of broadsides on social issues that were relevant to Dartmouth, including one entitled “Sexuality and Homosexuality: Some Thoughts.” In those four pages, he first criticizes in-depth the Christian arguments against homosexuality, then goes on to state that science affirms gay sexuality, and homophobia is rooted in misogyny and can be extremely harmful to gay individuals.10 He concludes that “homosexuality is morally neutral and that homosexuals should be subject to the same ethical considerations with respect to sexuality that heterosexuals are,”11 and that “for those who know they are gay and accept it, no apologies are necessary…and they should embrace it as God has given it to them, confident that it is not only for their good but for the good of society.”12

When Stuart Lewan was working on starting the Gay Student Support Group and needed support from administrators, he found that Dean Traynham was the only one who consistently supported the group. As a result, the Students for Social Alternatives and the GSSG considered the Tucker Foundation to be their “administrative home in the college.”13

Notes

  1. “Foundation Celebrates 25th Anniversary,” Tucker, Fall 1977, 2, D.C. History LD1434.5 .D37, Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩
  2. “The Tucker Community in Action,” Tucker, Fall 1977, 1, D.C. History LD1434.5 .D37, Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩
  3. “Foundation Celebrates 25th Anniversary,” 2. ↩
  4. Warner Traynham, Warner Traynham to Wayne April, May 19, 1976, 2, DA-114, Box 3703, May 1976, Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩
  5. Traynham, Warner Traynham to Wayne April, 1. ↩
  6. Special Lecture: “Can One Be Gay/Lesbian and Christian?” October 5, 1982, Gay Students Association, Vertical Files, Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩
  7. Special Lecture: “Can One Be Gay/Lesbian and Christian?” ↩
  8. Carol Cosenza, interview by Anne Y. Pinkney, transcript and audio, SpeakOut, March 27, 2019, https://exhibits.library.dartmouth.edu/s/SpeakOut/item/1498. ↩
  9. Carol Cosenza, SpeakOut interview. ↩
  10. Warner R. Traynham, “Sexuality and Homosexuality: Some Thoughts,” Broadsides, n.d., ML-77, Box 10, Folder 7, Rauner Special Collections Library. ↩
  11. Traynham, “Sexuality and Homosexuality,” 3. ↩
  12. Traynham, 4. ↩
  13. Stuart M. Lewan, interview by Abigail R. Mihaly, transcript and audio, SpeakOut, May 22, 2018, https://exhibits.library.dartmouth.edu/s/SpeakOut/item/196. ↩