LGBT student center

LGBT student centers are administrative offices of a college or university that provide resources and support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.

This article is about LGBT student centers on campuses. For LGBT student organizations, see LGBT student movement.

History

In 1971, the University of Michigan became the first university in the U.S. to create a campus LGBT center.[1]

The 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard sparked an increase in the number of university LGBT student centers in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[1] For institutions like Syracuse University, a continued presence of hostile actions and climate spreading to campus has led to the creation of these centers.[2] The movement has been slower outside of predominantly white institutions (PWIs); the first historically black college/university (HBCU) to open a center was Bowie State University in 2012.[3]

Despite the increasing support for these centers, it has been repeatedly noted that university administrators need to be made more aware of the issues facing LGBTQ+ students and the need for these centers on their campuses.[4]

Most LGBT student centers are concentrated where there is more support for LGBTQ+ students.[1][5] As of March 2019, there are still eight states that have no institutions with an LGBT student center and nine that only have one institution with a center statewide.[6]

As of March 2015, more than half of post-secondary institutions in Canada have active LGBT student centers, with the oldest centre's establishment dating to before 1970.[7]

Several variables have been shown to impact the probability of a LGBT student center opening on a campus, including financial resources and the political environment.[7]

Function

According to Sokolowski and the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, "LGBT resource centers must also be staffed by at least one halftime (50% or 20 hours per week) professional staff person or graduate assistant whose job description is solely dedicated to serving the LGBT resource center and its services."[8][9] Depending on the campus, an LGBT Campus Center's mission may include faculty support, student advocacy, alumni relations, and/or public relations with the greater community (especially in response to crisis). Contrary to some beliefs and researcher opinions, LGBT student centers remain open to allies of the LGBTQ+ community and those questioning their identity.[8][10]

An LGBT Campus Center may provide academic resources related to LGBT Studies, support social opportunities for LGBT people to interact, and sponsor educational events for the campus as a whole. Most Campus Centers provide referrals to other campus departments or off-campus organizations to help meet student needs. Due to this increased support, many students view these centers more positively than the rest of their institution's campus and climate, creating a "microclimate" in the larger scheme of an institution's campus climate.[8] Regardless of the concentration of on-campus support in these centers, the presence of these centers typically increases the available resources for students and increases perception from outside of the institution.[1] Students who engage with centers are more likely to be out which allows them to further connect with these current students, but also puts additional pressure to help other LGBTQ+ students come out and grow relationships with them.[11][12]

Some LGBT Campus Centers provide psychological counseling for students struggling with their sexual or gender identity and for students coping with internal or external prejudice. Some example scenarios of when a student might seek out counseling from an LGBT Campus Center:

• A questioning student seeks help understanding their sexual identity
• A transgender student has just experienced a bias-motivated attack
• A cisgender student is struggling to understand how to support their transgender roommate

Some LGBT Campus Centers lack secure financial support that is sufficient enough to sustain their services, resulting in closures.[7]

Criticism

Positives of LGBT student centers

Since the more rapid rise of centers beginning in the late 1990s/early 2000s, there has additionally been an increasing need for these centers—particularly as the proportion of openly LGBTQ+ in the United States has steadily increased.[8][13] Awareness of centers and their resources on campus may be one of the most significant issues in regards to justification and expansion of existing centers.[8] Additionally to further awareness, there have been calls to furthering numbers of resource centers across the United States due to roughly 10-15% of U.S. institutions of higher education having a center for LGBTQ+ students.[8][9] On an international level, the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals lists only three universities in Canada and one outside of North America that currently have resource centers for LGBTQ+ students.[9] Centers are still frequently seen as a key way to foster relationships and networking among LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff, and are often marketed as such to bring a positive awareness.[14]

Post-secondary institutions who dedicate physical space in the form of LGBTQ+ student centers contribute to a positive climate for students who identify with the LGBTQ+ community.[15] LGBTQ+ student centers act as a reminder to the LGBTQ+ community as a space known to be welcoming and accepting of all. Higher education professionals who are associated with LGBTQ+ student centres contribute to the development of an inviting and inclusive environment, also known as a "warm" campus climate.[16] This creation of a "warm" climate allows for students to develop not only intellectually through High Impact Practices (HIPs) but holistically through mentorship and counselling support.[15][17][18] This physical space has been noted as an effective way to incorporate the LGBTQ+ community in providing a safe space for students to find support while combating the adversities they experienced as students at their post-secondary institution.[15] Through qualitative accounts from students discussing the importance of this space acting as their primary stop when looking for support, students stated that they knew they would find others and more importantly professional staff who would support them through navigating processes on campus and connecting them with other professional staff that would be supportive of them.[15] LGBTQ+ student centers are key contributors in the development of inclusive environments for the LGBTQ+ community and link to academic persistence at post-secondary institutions.[16][19] The Transformational Tapestry Model (TTM) focuses on the correlation between campus climate and student persistence investigated critical incidences, harassment bias, and interactions between individuals and groups where homophobia and heterosexism were at play and it was established that these experiences decreased campus engagement for LGBTQ+ students and resulted in more students withdrawing from their institutions.[19][16] The need for inclusion on campuses is ensuring that students feel welcomed and accepted in their spaces. Inclusion at its core provides LGBTQ+ students the same engagement opportunities as their counterparts, and it provides the equity that students have been working in absence of when showcasing their true potential.[15]  

Negatives or Areas of Growth for LGBT student centers

Centers have been criticized for often being established, given full-time staff, or otherwise expanded in reactive (i.e., responding to an event or events on or off-campus).[2] Additionally, many students may feel that even after the creation of a campus LGBT+ center, there may be an existing culture of hostility and homophobia and transphobia within the student body and university staff, faculty, and administration.[2] Aside from combatting prejudices toward the LGBTQ+ community, there may need to be additional work done to combat other prejudices perpetuated by members of a campus LGBTQ+ community and their center's space, staff, and programming.[20] A key critique of current outreach has been that existing centers may be unintentionally serving and targeting more privileged and "dominant" identity-holding members of a campus's LGBTQ+ community.[8][20][21] For LGBTQ+ students of color, this may negatively impact them.[8][22] The support needed to bolster higher administration to allocate the funds, staffing, and resources is often very hard to attain or takes years of momentum among predominantly undergraduate students.[23] Due to centers primarily focusing on student outreach and assistance, some have criticized the undue burden put on students, particularly undergraduates, to bring action and successful programs and acclaim from both university administrators and outside organizations like Campus Pride.[24][25] In regards to non-students, there has been additional criticism of existing centers and other university administrators for poor outreach to LGBTQ+ alumni and potential LGBTQ+ alumni donors.[5][26]

Naming Centers

Many universities such as Bowling Green State University have expanded upon 'LGBT' to be more inclusive in their titles like 'LGBTQ+ Resource Center.'[27] Students have been gradually preferring less binary labels for their personal identities as well as campus-affiliated resource centers.[28] While some universities like the University of Vermont and their Prism Center have expanded for the sake of inclusivity, other institutions like the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and their Pride Center may additionally have intentions to manage a lower profile, especially when it comes to state and federal funding.[29][30][31]

Some LGBT labels have historically been more associated with either white or non-white cultures and have certain political connotations.[32]

References

1. Fine, Leigh E. (2012). "The Context of Creating Space: Assessing the Likelihood of College LGBT Center Presence". Journal of College Student Development. 53 (2): 285–299. doi:10.1353/csd.2012.0017.
2. Luthra, Aman (2004). "(Un)Straightening the Syracuse University Landscape". In Farrell, Kathleen; Gupta, Nisha; Queen, Mary (eds.). Interrupting Heteronormativity: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pedagogy and Responsible Teaching at Syracuse University. pp. 45–53.
3. "Bowie State Boasts First Black LGBT Student Center". Tell Me More. NPR. 14 June 2012. ProQuest 1020394942.
4. McCabe, Paul C.; Rubinson, Florence (1 December 2008). "Committing to Social Justice: The Behavioral Intention of School Psychology and Education Trainees to Advocate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Youth". School Psychology Review. 37 (4): 469–486. doi:10.1080/02796015.2008.12087861.
5. Garvey, Jason C.; Sanders, Laura A.; Flint, Maureen A. (2017). "Generational Perceptions of Campus Climate Among LGBTQ Undergraduates". Journal of College Student Development. 58 (6): 795–817. doi:10.1353/csd.2017.0065.
6. "LGBT Map". www.lgbtcampus.org. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
7. Ecker, John; Rae, Jennifer; Bassi, Amandeep (November 2015). "Showing your pride: a national survey of queer student centres in Canadian colleges and universities". Higher Education. 70 (5): 881–898. doi:10.1007/s10734-015-9874-x.
8. Sokolowski, Elizabeth (31 December 2017). Resource utilization of an LGBT university resource center and prospective barriers (Thesis). hdl:10217/191394.
9. Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals. (2017). [Interactive Map of LGBTQ Campus Resource Centers May 8, 2017]. Find an LGBTQ Resource Center. Retrieved from http://www.lgbtcampus.org/find-a-lgbt-center.
10. Renn, Kirsten A. "Identity centers: An idea whose time has come...and gone?". In Magolda, Peter M.; Magolda, Marcia B. Baxter (eds.). Contested Issues in Student Affairs: Diverse Perspectives and Respectful Dialogue. Stylus. pp. 244–254. ISBN 978-1-57922-584-1.
11. Gortmaker, V.; Brown, R. (2006). "Out of the closet: Differences in perceptions and experiences among out lesbian and gay students". College Student Journal. 40: 606–619.
12. Garvey, Jason C.; Rankin, Susan R. (4 March 2015). "The Influence of Campus Experiences on the Level of Outness Among Trans-Spectrum and Queer-Spectrum Students". Journal of Homosexuality. 62 (3): 374–393. doi:10.1080/00918369.2014.977113.
13. "SDA - GSS 1972-2016 Cumulative Datafile". sda.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
14. Vaccaro, Annemarie (October 2012). "Campus Microclimates for LGBT Faculty, Staff, and Students: An Exploration of the Intersections of Social Identity and Campus Roles". Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. 49 (4): 429–446. doi:10.1515/jsarp-2012-6473.
15. Pitcher, Erich N.; Camacho, Trace P.; Renn, Kristen A.; Woodford, Michael R. (June 2018). "Affirming policies, programs, and supportive services: Using an organizational perspective to understand LGBTQ+ college student success". Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 11 (2): 117–132. doi:10.1037/dhe0000048.
16. Rankin, Susan; Reason, Robert (December 2008). "Transformational Tapestry Model: A comprehensive approach to transforming campus climate" (PDF). Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 1 (4): 262–274. doi:10.1037/a0014018.
17. BrckaLorenz, Allison; Garvey, Jason C.; Hurtado, Sarah S.; Latopolski, Keely (December 2017). "High-impact practices and student–faculty interactions for gender-variant students". Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. 10 (4): 350–365. doi:10.1037/dhe0000065. hdl:2022/24053.
18. Serving diverse students in Canadian higher education. Cox, Donna Gail Hardy, 1961-, Strange, Charles Carney. Montreal. ISBN 978-0-7735-9942-0. OCLC 945583325.CS1 maint: others (link)
19. Garvey, Jason C.; Rankin, Susan R. (3 April 2015). "Making the Grade? Classroom Climate for LGBTQ Students Across Gender Conformity". Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. 52 (2): 190–203. doi:10.1080/19496591.2015.1019764.
20. Westbrook, Laurel (9 October 2009). "Where the Women Aren't: Gender Differences in the Use of LGBT Resources on College Campuses". Journal of LGBT Youth. 6 (4): 369–394. doi:10.1080/19361650903295769.
21. Poynter, Kerry John; Washington, Jamie (2005). "Multiple identities: Creating community on campus for LGBT students". New Directions for Student Services. 2005 (111): 41–47. doi:10.1002/ss.172.
22. Rankin, Susan R. (2005). "Campus climates for sexual minorities". New Directions for Student Services. 2005 (111): 17–23. doi:10.1002/ss.170.
23. Martin, Georgianna; Broadhurst, Christopher; Hoffshire, Michael; Takewell, William (2 January 2018). "'Students at the Margins': Student Affairs Administrators Creating Inclusive Campuses for LGBTQ Students in the South". Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. 55 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1080/19496591.2017.1345756.
24. "Elon named a top-10 LGBTQ-friendly campus". Elon University. 19 August 2016.
25. Garvey, Jason C.; Rankin, Susan; Beemyn, Genny; Windmeyer, Shane (September 2017). "Improving the Campus Climate for LGBTQ Students Using the Campus Pride Index: Improving the Campus Climate for LGBTQ Students". New Directions for Student Services. 2017 (159): 61–70. doi:10.1002/ss.20227.
26. Garvey, J. C.; Drezner, N. D. (2013). "Alumni giving in the LGBTQ communities". In Drezner, N. D. (ed.). Expanding the donor base: Critical issues for higher education philanthropy and fundraising. New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 74–86.
27. "LGBTQ+ Programs". Bowling Green State University. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
28. Rankin, S. R., Weber, G., Blumenfeld, W., & Frazer, S. (2010). State of higher education for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Charlotte, NC: Campus Pride.
29. "UVM Prism Center". www.uvm.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
30. "Pride Center". Pride Center. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
31. Gervin, C.W. (2016, Jun 26). UTK reinstates funding for LGBT center. Nashville Post. Retrieved from https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/state-government/article/20865830/utk-reinstates-funding-for-lgbt-center
32. Boykin, K. (2005). Beyond the Down Low: Sex, lies, and denial in black America. New York: Carral and Graf.

Related

• National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education, is the professional organization for staffers of LGBT Campus Centers
• Student Affairs
• List of LGBT-related organizations, includes campus and non-campus organizations
• List of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community centers, non-campus organizations only

External links

• Directory of LGBT Campus Centers
• Self-studies of the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education