January 05, 2006

President Al Goldfarb

Sherman Hall

Dear President Goldfarb,

As student members of UNITY, we are writing on behalf of the Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgendered, Questioning, and Allies (GLBTQA) community here at WIU. The GLBTQA community here at Western brings you this proposal to establish a needed Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Center and to create a staff position, preferably a director to coordinate GLBT awareness, education, training, programming, administrative and support efforts on campus.

Since the late 1960s, organizations and centers for the GLBT community have been established in communities and on college campuses throughout the country to help provide gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning people with the resources they need to gain access to accurate historical and cultural information and psychological, emotional, and social support that most have been denied in our society. In addition, these visible and recognizable centers have created and encouraged educational environments that increase awareness and understanding of GLBT concerns and promote non-heterosexist attitudes and behaviors in all individuals.

While we acknowledge that WIU has strong student and employee GLBT organizations, as students representing this minority population on campus, we believe a need exists for a permanent facility with a paid director. According to Sanlo (2000),

Typical student affairs operations – programming, student legal services, residence life, leadership, career services, health and counseling services, community service learning programs, multi-ethnic and/or cross-cultural student services, and international centers – are administered by people who possess a specialized understanding of students, their experience, and how the academic environment can enhance their development and learning” (p. 485).

In addition he mentions that directors of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Campus Resource Centers or offices possess specialized understanding of GLBT issues and needs on college campuses.

GLBT center director positions can be configured in a variety of ways, including: 1) a half-time appointment as an administrator (i.e., Director of GLBT Resource Center) and half-time as faculty, with dual reporting lines and two sets of job responsibilities; 2) a full-time administrative appointment with faculty status in an academic department, often as adjunct faculty, with one reporting line and one set of job responsibilities (administrative), with release time (and potentially separate compensation) for teaching; 3) an assistant director of an existing department such as the Office of Student Activities; or 4) a graduate assistantship in a department such as OSA. Having a professional or a graduate student dedicated to the center and whose primary responsibility is to run the center, along with being knowledgeable about the coming out process and other developmental theories will be very beneficial to the development of a student who identifies as GLBT. This person would be able to provide a one on one support to students and would serve as a strong symbol for the GLBTQA population. Sanlo (2000) states, “As LGBT students come to campuses – some still secretive and some quite open about their sexual orientations and gender identities – they expect their worldviews to be embraced, their needs met, and their educational environments welcoming” (p 486).

Nuss (1996) wrote of the importance of “the development of the whole person” (p. 39) as it relates to students on campuses. WIU, as a higher education institution, has a responsibility for the development of all their students inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. As students and members of the WIU and Macomb community, we believe a GLBT Center with a full-time staff is one attempt to provide for Nuss’ described development of the whole person. Having a center would also be a valuable resource for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and questioning students, faculty, administrators, staff and allies, as well as for the WIU and Macomb communities. A center would serve currently unmet needs such as housing a GLBT resource library and providing a centralized office and meeting space for UNITY, Transitions, UCOSO, and other functions, enhancing the University’s diverse recruitment and retention efforts by demonstrating a commitment to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students, faculty, staff and allies.

We – the students, both the GLBT members and their heterosexual allies – believe that having a visible GLBT Center on campus that is supported by WIU will be very beneficial in terms of creating an inclusive environment an upholding the University’s mission of having a diverse environment. Having a visible presence on campus that is backed up by the institution would make GLBT students feel welcomed and accepted just like our other minority populations that consider GBCC, CASA Latina, and the Women’s Center as their third place where they can be who they are and not feel threatened. Students who identify and belong to the GLBT community would feel less oppressed and less silenced. Having a visible center on campus would empower these minority students and would validate their existence and experience here in college, making them feel less marginalized. Students who are out to themselves but not to others would find the center as a safe haven for them to explore who they are and to find the support that they need. A center will also foster acceptance for students who do not want to come out and who are not yet ready to join the community.

The GLBT community has had their own culture and the history as an under-represented group of people that dates back to the early 1920s. UNITY as an organization for the GLBT community has existed at WIU in one form or other since the late 1970s, which is closely at the same time as GBCC, CASA Latina, and the Women’s Center. However, unlike the aforementioned offices, this group of students who belong to UNITY has existed without a visible and acknowledged center. UNITY as a student-lead organization has provided many educational opportunities for the WIU and Macomb community, bringing awareness and creating learning opportunities.

Dedicated members of this organization have volunteered their time and taken it among themselves to provide programs that enhance the diverse educational experiences of their peers through: National Coming Out Day, World AIDS Day, Transitions, Speakers Panel for various WIU classes, Safe Space Workshops for students, staff, and faculty, Awareness Week, Day of Silence, and Community and Campus Outreach. Having a center with a director, assistant director, or a graduate assistant would enhance these programs and make them stronger; members of the community would be able to go to one person and ask him/her about what is going on. The communication between the WIU community and UNITY would me more fluid and more effective with a point person who is knowledgeable about these programs and the type of services that a GLBT Center provides. The educational value of having a GLBT Center will speak volumes in terms of providing resources not only for our students but for professors as well because issues of homosexuality has and will continue to come up in classrooms.

As a university, we value ourselves in our commitment to diversity and in our commitment to our students’ academic and learning experiences. Stated on the WIU website under Diversity Programs:

At Western Illinois University we recognize that a diverse faculty, staff and student body play an important role in achieving our overall mission to provide the premier undergraduate education among all public universities in Illinois, supported by excellence in graduate programs. For this reason, the Board of Trustees is committed to building a campus that includes and supports individuals who have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education, including women, people of color, and individuals with disabilities (http://www.wiu.edu/DiversityPrograms/).

Reading the above statement, there is no mention of GLBT individuals who have and will continue to be underrepresented in higher education. According to Ritche and Banning (2001), there is a growing acceptance of diversity on campuses across the nation; however, the acceptance across diversity groups is not uniform. In particular, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender students have found campuses often not tolerant, not accepting, nor supportive. Ritche and Banning (2001) mentions that historically, a key strategy for supporting diverse groups, as well as fostering tolerance and acceptance on campuses, has been the establishment of professionally-staffed offices, supported by university student affairs divisions, to serve and advocate on behalf of campus diversity groups. Most representative of this strategy is the role that student affairs offices for student of color have played in both supporting the concerns of ethnic minority students and reinforcing the need for institutional change. Reports regarding the establishment and the role of these offices begin to appear in the literature as early as 1971. However, relatively few university-supported and professionally-staffed offices have been established for GLBT students.

Now is the time that we as a university take a personal responsibility to serve the minority and underrepresented students who belong to the GLBT community. Let us help them feel less silenced, hear their many voices, and acknowledge their important presence here on campus. Dr. Goldfarb, with your commitment to diversity and with your support, we can make this happen.

Thank you so very much for taking your time to read this. We look forward to your future correspondence.

With our utmost gratitude,

Student, Faculty, and Staff members of UNITY

____________________________ ______________________________

References

Ritchie, C.A. & Banning, J.H. (2001). Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender campus support offices: A qualitative study of establishment experiences. NASPA Journal, 38, 482 – 494.

Sanlo, R.L. (2000). The LGBT campus resource center director: The new profession Student Affairs. NASPA Journal, 37, 485 – 495.

Nuss. E. M. (1996). The development of Student Affairs. In S. R. Komives & D. B. Woodard (Eds.), Student services: A handbook for the profession (3rd ed.). (22-42). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Western Illinois University Diversity Programs.. Retrieved from http://www.wiu.edu/DiversityPrograms/ on November 28, 2005.