NC State University gay student center proposal sparks campus controversy

by Matt | October 23rd, 2006 |

NC State LGBT Center. The most up-to-date news right here.

Last Wednesday, the NC State University Student Senate voted in favor of a Senate proposal (R 37) supporting the creation and funding of a student LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) center on the campus.

NC State was recently listed as number 17 on the Princeton Review’s list of worst campuses for LGBT students. According to the Senate proposal, LGBT students have a suicide rate three times that of their straight peers. The Senate proposal also states that, “LGBT students consistently report far greater fear of physical violence than their peers and a greater level of in-class stereotyping or harassment.”

The next day, NC State’s daily student paper, The Technician, published a news story on the Senate’s actions. They also published a staff editorial in support of the LGBT student center. Needless to say, the response from students against the center’s creation was quick.

Students at NC State formed a Facebook group, “Students Against NCSU LGBT Center,” which currently has more than 800 members. Other students at NC State formed another Facebook group, “Students For NCSU LGBT Center,” which currently has close to 400 members (Note: Unless you have an account at Facebook.com, you may not be able to view the group pages or any other Facebook links in this post).

The debate on the “wall” of the Facebook group against the LGBT center has ranged from civil to just downright horrible.

A good portion of the debate includes students who say the are against the proposed LGBT center because of the cost of it. The new center will cost just under $200,000, with about half of that coming from student fees and the other half from previously set allocations from the University. I guess money is a good thing to hide behind when you don’t want to be called a bigot.

In one online forum for NC State students, a student stated, “how do you compare being a minority of any sort to being a faggot.”

The Technician’s article from October 19th details the debate which took place when the Student Senate heard the proposal:

The source of funding and the effect of the LGBT center portion on other student activities was a major concern throughout the debate.

“Look at it as the community asking for support, not the community asking for funding,” Harrison Gilbert, senator for CHASS, said.

James Hankins, Senator for Lifelong education, referenced the 50th anniversary of African-American students graduating from the University the very same day of the meeting in similarity to the issues now facing another minority group.

“Now we are talking about denying a building to a group of students based on who they are. That’s kind of backwards,” Sen. Hankins said to an uproar of applause.

Not all senators were in support of the center. Scott Lassiter, senator for at-large first-year students, said he did not see the relationship between African-Americans and LGBT students in the same way Hankins expressed them.

“You don’t choose to be a minority — you are born a minority,” Lassiter said. “I personally believe you have some control over your sexuality.”

The Student Senate passed the proposal, with 29 Senators voting in favor of it, 14 against and with 11 Senators absent for the vote.

I have to say that The Technician’s staff editorial on the issue was quite good:

Our Opinion: The University should provide the funding and support needed to create an LGBT center on campus.

The University, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary of integration, has done a lot of amazing things for racial diversity.

There are several resources for black students on campus, such as the African-American Cultural Center and a peer mentor program.

N.C. State has also helped in terms of gendered diversity.

The Women’s Center, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, provides several resources for women, such as a rape and sexual assault hotline and self-defense workshops.

We need to remember something very important about diversity.

It isn’t just black and white, male and female.

There’s an African-American Cultural Center. There’s a Women’s Center. Why not a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered center?

Our campus is one of the least accepting in terms of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered issues, according to The Princeton Review.

…

According to N.C. State’s 2004 Student Diversity Climate Survey, the suicide rate for LGBT students is three times higher than the rate of other students their age.

Fifty percent of LGBT students on campus say they think the climate at this University isn’t supportive of LGBT issues, according to the survey.

These numbers are unfavorable and reflect poorly on the University and its mission to be a diverse campus.

The proposal places a strong emphasis on campus climate, saying many LGBT students fear loss of friendships and lack of support from families.

An LGBT center could turn all of this around. These students need support from other students going through the same hardships, as well as trained professionals who can help them overcome the everyday obstacles they face because they are different.

Such a center benefitted our neighbors in blue down the road — no, not those neighbors. Duke.

Duke was once the second least-accepting campus to LGBT issues, according to The Princeton Review.

Three years ago, it built a center — which has its own building — and is now the third most accepting campus, according to The Princeton Review.

…

Our campus is huge. There is no excuse for limiting the options to various members of the N.C. State community.

NC State’s LGBT student organization, BGLA, has provided the text of the official University proposal (.PDF) for the LGBT center on its website. The proposal came from the GLBT Subcommittee of the University Diversity Advisory Council.

The official proposal includes a study on the necessity of the LGBT center, notes on the campus climate for LGBT students at NC State, the purpose and mission of the proposed center and a study of anticipated start-up and continuing costs for the proposed center.

According to the official proposal:

It is clear that NC State requires a GLBT center and that it should be a separate facility. The unique needs of the GLBT community cannot be well served by a broader “diversity umbrella” center. Too many of the functions of a GLBT center depend on staff having very specific training and sensitivities, and on the center being perceived as offering a truly “safe” space. In fact, physical separation from other centers may be essential to make the GLBT center a safe space. Some directors of GLBT centers have expressed the opinion that questioning (Q) students of color who visited their centers would not have done so if the GLBT center had not been separate and independent.

Many of the students against the “gay building,” as I have heard it called, are hiding behind money and the student fees issue in order to stand in opposition to the proposed LGBT center. Like it or not, the student fees issue isn’t a good one to stand behind. Student fees at a university fund various types of programs: everything from athletics, student activities, concerts and student organizations. Students who say they’d like to “keep their $2 or $3 rather than have it go to that center” need to rethink such thoughts. What if every student were to say something like that everytime student fees were used on something they didn’t necessarily agree with? What if Democratic students wanted to keep their money from funding Republican student activities, or vice-versa?

Student fees have to be used equally and they have to be used to benefit all students. In my opinion, if the University feels as though there is a possible benefit for students in the creation of this center, then student fees can rightfully be used. The used student fees will benefit the student body and campus in ways that many of these students probably wouldn’t want it to.

The truth is that NC State is one of the worst universities in our state for LGBT students. Almost every LGBT student I know from NC State tells me the same thing: the campus climate is horrible. I know many students who have had to transfer from NC State to other schools, like UNC-Chapel Hill or UNCG. These students couldn’t take the harassment and, sometimes, violence, they faced as LGBT students.

The proposed center is about safety and improving the campus climate. Those who are against the center are in reality standing in favor of the continued harassment, violence and abuse of LGBT students. I guess they feel as though that kind of thing is ok. Being gay is a “sin” after all. LGBT students deserve the abuse they get for being “sodomites,” right?

The official proposal from the University Diversity Advisory Council and the Student Senate proposal for the LGBT center are only the first few steps needed in a long, long process to get the LGBT center running. The proposal will have to go through many channels, so don’t expect that the LGBT center becomes a reality any time soon. I’d expect that it may not even open or be operable until the next academic year, or later.

Until then, I’m sure we’ll continue to hear student debate on the issue. One thing to remember: Right always wins out over wrong. LGBT students at NC State deserve to have a safe place to go to school and, right now, NC State is not safe for LGBT students.

You know, I wouldn’t mind having such a resource center for LGBT students at UNCG. Samantha Korb, a UNCG student and president of the UNCG LGBT student organization, PRIDE!, stated on Facebook:

I was reading some of the comments in the group for those who are Against the LGBT center and they are just insane. Make a straight center? WOW. I really hope that this happens for NCSU and that in the years to come the same will happen for other UNC public universities (including UNCG).

In response, Josh Wynne, a UNCG alum and NC State grad student, stated:

Yeah, now is definately (sic) the time to start building the groundwork for this at UNCG. I seriously doubt it would encounter as much opposition! I would have loved an LGBT center at UNCG when I was there, but I think everyone was just happy enough to have the second largest student group on campus lol.

I’ve talked with other students and even faculty members about having such a center at UNCG. An proposal, official or otherwise, has never come to the UNCG Administration or Office of Student Life. At least one faculty member told me that she’d be in favor of such a center if only some sort of proposal were made. That is, of course, not an easy task and it isn’t one that can be completed by just one or two or three people.

Of course, an LGBT resource center at UNCG would inevitably face opposition, even though UNCG tends to be more gay-friendly than other UNC System schools. Although we are more gay-friendly, problems still exist and many of those problems are ones which can’t be easily solved. Harassment in the residence halls is just one of those.

Despite how far today’s college students have gone in supporting LGBT people, problems such as those seen at NC State. Our North Carolina schools should take steps to help and protect LGBT students, especially those attending schools like NC State where their physical safety and educational future are affected by anti-gay bias and harassment.

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