Morgan State University has launched an investigation against the school's chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity for allegedly denying membership to a gay student.
Brian Stewart, a former Obama intern, said that he always wanted to be part of Alpha Iota (Morgan's chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi) because his pastor and mentor from his youth belonged to the frat. He was the first positive adult role model and a major influence in his life.
"[I was] born in the projects of Annapolis, growing up in and out of foster care...and raised by different relatives," Stewart told Fox Baltimore.
"What he offered to me, I wanted the ability to offer that to someone else," Stewart said.
Stewart, a 20-year-old senior business major, was pretty sure of gaining membership into the frat because of his academic accomplishments such as working with First Lady Michelle Obama and leadership roles on campus. But they rejected him because of his sexual orientation.
Stewart, who received his denial letter on Oct.3, eventually filed a complaint against the university and the fraternity a few weeks later.
"The University is aware of the complaint filed. The university has launched an investigation to find facts."
"The university doesn't tolerate or accept any kind of discrimination," Carter said. "It's something that the university takes very very seriously," Jarrett Carter Sr., a Morgan Spokesperson told Baltimore Sun.
Carter said that sex discrimination in Greek life or across campus is not tolerated and encouraged. It is against university policy and those found in violation, face appropriate disciplinary actions.
Since the discrimination, Stewart is no longer interested in the fraternity.
"I didn't know I was going to have no control - that my interview meant nothing, my achievements meant nothing, because they had already made up their minds," Stewart said.
Based on a survey of more than 121,000 individuals, the Gallup survey released Thursday, says 3.4 percent adults across the country are a part of the LGBT community. The latest 2010 census also revealed an increase in percentage of same-sex couples living together. It grew from 358,390 in 2000 to 646,464 in 2010, an increase of more than 80 percent, US News reports.
Even though there is a constant increase in gay population in the country, the national fraternity does not have any recruitment policies concerning LGBTs. On its national website the fraternity states,
"KAPPA ALPHA PSI is justly proud that the Constitution has never contained any clause which either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin." The statement bypasses any mention of sexual orientation.
