YOUNGSTOWN Benefit to aid partner of professor at YSU

The benefit dinner is Friday at the Unitarian Church on the North Side.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The discrimination is not overt.
No one at Youngstown State University calls her names or discriminates against her as a professor of philosophy and religious studies.
But Dr. L.J. "Tess" Tessier said she remembers it beginning in about 1990, when she was told she could not take her domestic partner and son into the swimming pool on campus because they are not family members.
Years later, Tessier found a bigger battle, when Tara McKibben's multiple sclerosis symptoms recurred severely, in about 1995.
McKibben kept benefits from her workplace as long as she was able to work and in the months after her resignation. But now she has none, and is unable to receive health benefits from Tessier's employer, YSU.
No help for partners
Tessier considers McKibben and her 19-year-old son her family -- they've been together for nearly 14 years -- but university board members do not agree. They have refused to extend health-care benefits to the domestic partners of employees.
As such, McKibben's medical bills have piled up. The multiple-sclerosis patient faces surmounting bills, including $3,000 per month for medications. And the medical bills that are not covered by Medicare can reach $1,000 per month.
Friends have planned the "A Nite with Tara" benefit dinner for 6 p.m. Friday at the Unitarian Church at the corner of Elm Street and Illinois Avenue, across from Wick Park on the city's North Side. The event kicks off the establishment of The Tara McKibben Fund, to help fund a home health aide and other health-care expenses. Suggested donation is $20.
The potluck dinner will be accompanied by music and entertainment to include poetry by Donna Downie, dance by Sara Terlecky, and Tessier with Susan Sexton performing "Five Poems of Emily Dickinson for Trumpet and Narrator." Special guest is vocalist Hyun Jin Kim with Hye Jin Kim.
Account set up
A benefit account for McKibben has been established at a local bank. Donations can be dropped off at the Women's Center at YSU or sent to 1160 Timbercrest St., Youngstown 44505.
Throughout the battle, charitable assistance, discounts and friends have helped. But, Tessier said, this family is out of options.
"It's really an unfortunate situation," said Tessier, who fought with the union for domestic-partner health-care benefits during the last two rounds of negotiations. "Neither one of us ever wanted to be the poster child for domestic-partner benefits but it's really been tough, and getting tougher."
She said the domestic partner issue first surfaced years ago when the union filed a grievance on Tessier's behalf, charging a violation of the university's nondiscrimination clause, based on sexual orientation.
But, while she said she's not always happy with the decisions made, Tessier is happy at the university.
"I love YSU," she said. "I love teaching. It's my passion."