Proseminar in Homophile Studies

In October 1969, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) task force on homosexuality recommended increased educational attention to gay issues.

[A][3] Crompton was listed as an instructor alongside James Cole, the director of the training program for clinical psychology, and Louis Martin, a psychiatrist at the school health center who regularly saw homosexual patients.

[7] The Proseminar in Homophile Studies was offered in the fall semester of 1970, and was taught by Crompton, Cole, and Martin..[8] Thirteen lecturers, including retired police officers and professors from other institutions, were invited to teach the course.

[14] The course also included a study of literature, such as novels and plays written by Black, White, and Chicano gay authors, among them James Baldwin, Mart Crowley, and John Rechy.

[16] Neither candidate for governor in that year's election defended it; incumbent Republican Norbert Tiemann said he opposed the class and Democratic challenger J. James Exon said it was unnecessary.

[18] On October 28 and 29, Carpenter invited 35 witnesses, including regent candidates and Crompton, to attend a legislative hearing on "why the University feels it necessary to have a course about homosexuals", among other sexuality-related issues.

[21] Greenberg said the course was not intended to promote homosexuality but was meant to bring about its eradication by training professionals to change the manifestation of same-sex attraction; four other regents supported this testimony.

[21] Magrath compared reactions to the course to those of World War I-era Nebraska, which had forbidden teaching languages other than English in public schools.

[23] In response to this latter bill, Cole testified the course was "perhaps the most serious underdiscussed problem in the United States", and that homosexuality was an interdisciplinary issue that was not only suitable for the medical school.

[29] Once the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare became aware of the proseminar, they suggested other universities base their homosexuality-related curricula on it.

The chairman of its nominating committee said Cole's testimony helped avoid one of the strongest threats to academic liberty at the university in several years.