Dr. The Human Rights Campaign, the largest Gay lobbying group in the United States, is led by Leslie Hall, chairman of the HBCU Program. S. — recalls Prairie View A&M University’s cheerful beginning of the LGBTQ+ Resource Office. The fourth Wednesday of October, during LGBTQ History Month, is HRC’s HBCU Out Loud Day.
The joy has now turned to sadness as a new law in Texas has dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion ( DEI ) offices and programs at publicly funded universities.
Point Foundation Scholars“Students posted videos on Tik Tok of them having to pull down the rainbow flag and to shutter the doors,” says Hall. “The center director had to be reassigned to a new role on campus. These are the real impacts.”
Obviously, the past 40 years have brought several steps ahead in terms of lesbian, gay, bi, transgender, and gay rights, presence, and awareness, but in academia it is still a work in progress. A 2022 report from the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute and the Point Foundation, an Gay award bank, noted that 32. 6 % of LGBTQ individuals experienced bullying, abuse, or abuse at university, compared to 18. 9 % of non-LGBTQ people. About 45. 5 % of LGBTQ individuals reported hearing obscenities, and 10. 3 % noted they received harsh care from school officials.
Jorge Valencia, executive chairman of the Point Foundation, says the political environment that targets LGBTQ individuals is hurting young people’s mental health, especially at the moment when the Supreme Court’s judgments and La attempts are being removed or educational institutions are being pressured by their state institutions.
Evolution
After graduating from University of Notre Dame ( UND), one of the nation’s top Catholic institutions, Liam Dacey took steps to transfer after his sophomore year, but he changed his mind and instead fought for LGBTQ acceptance and visibility on campus.
At the time, there was only an unapproved ( not officially recognized by the university ) LGBTQ student group. According to him, there was also a standing committee on LGBTQ student needs that the student affairs office had, which worked as much as they could within the authority’s purview.
Junior year, Dacey, who was in the film program, had the idea to do a UND Queer Film Festival, which debuted his senior year. Five academic departments provided funding for it, and GALA, a separate nonprofit organization founded by LGBTQ alumni, provided funding for it.
“Things sprang from the film festival ( including an official LGBTQ student group on campus ) in the decade that followed, ” says Dacey.
Acey has continued to work with the university’s advocacy efforts despite recently narrating a video about LGBTQ history at the university. The university finally established an official LGBTQ alumni affinity group, ARC, in 2022. Prior to that, GALA raised over$ 250,000 to endow UND LGBTQ student scholarships; two are distributed annually.
Christopher Roth’s primary job at Guttman Community College, part of the City University of New York, is associate director of academic technology. In 2018, he wanted to get more involved with student programming, so he joined the college’s LGBTQ+ History Month committee. He co-chaired the committee the following year with the intention of providing more opportunities for students. In the end, this resulted in a grant application and funding to create programming for students at Guttman who are LGBTQ+.
The objective was to provide some educational and engaging programming and resources that would give our students a sense of belonging and belonging, as well as to bring new and exciting events and speakers that were accessible to students, Roth says. Getting our leadership involved and putting the work into action is one of our biggest challenges. ”
Jorge ValenciaAnother report from the Williams Institute and the Point Foundation focuses on the experiences of community college students. LGBTQ individuals, between ages 18 and 40, reported experiencing bullying, harassment, and assault more than twice as much as non-LGBTQ individuals. More than 50% of LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ individuals included in the report did not know if their community college had specific resources for LGBTQ students.
Guttman recently institutionalized its Lavender Graduation, a pre-graduation ceremony for LGBTQ students which the president, provost, and members of the faculty attend. At the campus-wide graduation, rainbow cords are given out for students to wear.
When Hall was an undergraduate at Bowie State University ( 2007–12 ), an HBCU in Maryland, it was a “resource desert ” for LGBTQ students. There were n’t counselors qualified to discuss issues relating to his coming out process, even if he wanted to go to the counseling center. Healthcare was problematic because students from the university’s nursing program, some of whom he had classes with, were staff members in the wellness center. HRC has worked on those issues in recent years, claiming that it is not best practice for students to work in health centers.
The Point Foundation was established in 2001, and the majority of its initial applicants were gay men whose parents turned down college offers after they emerged. Over time, the number of applicants and their diversity have grown significantly. As marriage equality became national, there was a shift toward greater acceptance.
“We started to focus not only on marginalization, but specifically on those who wanted to make a change in society, ” says Valencia. One of the things we changed about our mission was the focus on leadership because we think it is crucial to invest in the development of young people who will advance LGBTQ rights. ”
Classroom
That shift in the Point Foundation’s focus led to research, such as the reports with the Williams Institute, and data gathering on the foundation’s applicant pool. There are now workshops and conferences that reflect current needs and issues in addition to scholarships and grants. This academic year, 575 students are being supported. Over 80 % identify as BIPOC or multi-racial and 51 % are first-generation. Making a scholarship available to part-time students for those who are unable to attend college full-time was a significant change.
Our mentoring program has been modified to better serve the students we are currently supporting, says Valencia.
Hall says HRC has worked to change classroom climates, such as using students ’ preferred names and pronouns. Over the past 20 years, approximately one-third of HBCUs have collaborated with HRC to effect institutional change, such as developing or enhancing inclusive policies that support LGBTQ students.
“ When schools enroll in this initiative, they have access to a confidential assessment they will take, ” says Hall. Then, we will develop a strategy for how to deal with some of the issues that do n’t require funding and some that do. We collaborate with and lend to HBCUs to help them meet a number of benchmarks through consulting services that we provide. Once they have met several benchmarks, they are able to receive a seal of distinction. ”
Despite decades of advocacy, what has n’t changed at UND is the university’s non-discrimination policy, which does not include sexual orientation or gender identity.
Dacey, who has done a lot of political work and is now an events consultant, says,” That continues to be a big problem for staff and faculty who still are afraid of coming out.” There are still no LGBTQ-focused academic classes either. ”
Dr. Luis A. In the Vanderbilt University-Peabody College of Education & Human Development, Leyva is an associate professor of Mathematics Education & STEM Higher Education. Leyva appreciates the institutional backing he receives. Although the state of Tennessee has pushed back on DEI programming, Vanderbilt is a private institution. Leyva’s research examines how interlocking systems of power, including racism and cisheteropatriarcy, impact classroom teaching and student support in undergraduate mathematics and STEM education. He is the director of the PRISM ( Power, Resistance & Identity in STEM Education ) research lab.
His “Queer Students of Color STEM” project, which involved 60 Black, Latinx, and Asian LGBTQ students pursuing STEM majors, began with a small research grant from Peabody College. It later expanded into a multi-institutional study with funding from the National Acadamy of Education and the Spencer Foundation.
One of the recently published articles, one in the American Educational Research Journal and the other in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, details the learning experiences of queer STEM students of color. Our research project aims to provide a model for the field of how we can broadly change the teaching and learning spaces in mathematics and STEM to affirm queer of color identities among undergraduate students, says Leyva.
All undergraduate and graduate student researchers, many of whom identify as LGBTQ+ and people of color, can use their full selves while working on academic projects, according to Leyva in the PRISM research lab at Vanderbilt. Additionally, he is a member of a multidisciplinary team of faculty members working on a range of social and policy-related issues to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people.
Vanderbilt has also increased our research in the PRISM lab, says Leyva, noting that the university has made any announcements and publications about improving STEM education for LGBTQ+ students of color. That suggests to me that the university appears to value this body of scholarship as a source of pride. ”
Ongoing fight for inclusion
Exploiting a vast alumni network is a huge opportunity for UND undergraduates and graduate students. According to Dacey, the network has n’t been actively developed for LGBTQ alumni and students. There is also a lack of role models or mentors because many faculty members and staff remain close to one another.
Leyva has the opposite of herself. Being able to bring that selfhood to students who are members of PRISM and actually see some of themselves can help queer men of color consider embracing their social diversity in upcoming leadership positions, he says.
Oscar Guzmán, a former research assistant in the PRISM lab, notes Leyva’s impact. “For me, Dr. Leyva’s greatest strength comes not only from his academic position, but also from his respect and responsibility as an advocate for those whose voices are frequently ignored, he claims.
Training is provided by Guttman for faculty and staff. A placard that states to LGBTQ students that it is a supportive and positive environment is given to those who finish it. According to Hall, administrative leaders ‘ failure to support LGBTQ resources, which he claims has plagued the majority of HBCUs, have largely been due to lack of funding. “If you put an LGBTQ center in, you need to staff it and get programming money, ” he says. “Gender neutral housing or gender-neutral restrooms, there’s a fiscal note attached to all of that. ”
Many HBCU institutions have church-based roots. Some students are still on our campuses with some dated viewpoints, he adds. “Schools can change all of their policies, all of their non-discrimination things, and it can still be a hostile place. ”
According to Valencia, the Point Foundation is currently actively working with organizations that are also navigating state restrictions on DEI initiatives, like the United Negro College Fund and Native Forward Scholars Fund.
With the pressures being placed on universities to halt DEI efforts, I believe it is crucial for faculty, administrators, and other members of the community to find a way to support those students, Valencia says. We established a board of education advisory committee made up of about 12 educators working on the ground all over the nation. ”
The HBCU Leadership Summit, a national leadership and advocacy training program for LGBTQ+ students at HBCUs, is held by HRC, which enables them to become change agents on their campuses and communities, even in states where DEI is being destroyed. Approximately 40 HBCU student leaders are brought to Washington, D. C. , each year for training.
“The anti-DE I bills are having a real impact on these campuses and it ’s making our work harder, ” Hall says. However, the student bodies have been much more vocal than I was when I was on campus regarding what they demand and expect from their campuses. When we have our Leadership Summit, we don’t bring meek, mild students. These students are fierce, and they are unapologetic. They are advocates, and they object to blocking the president’s office and appearing at boards of trustee meetings to voice their concerns. That is truly what has really impacted the situation. ”
