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The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051 A1Dle Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS,.
KANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016
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Council seeks LGBQT+ inclusive measures
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
Students on campus have heard a lot about retention over the past few months. From forums, to town hall meetings to informal conversations, retaining minority students is an issue that has been brought up in many spaces. However, even though the University tracks its minority populations, it does not collect data on the LGBTQ+ community.
The Office of Institutional Resource and planning has readily available statistics on demographic populations and graduation rates each year. Last December, the Office of the Provost released a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion update that gave an overview of progress and goals for retaining marginalized races.
Being able to track decreasing or increasing trends in population is a way the University can see the needs of minority students. However, when it comes to information on the status of the LGBTQ+ community, there are no statistics, simply because the University does not track them.
Omar Rana, a senior from Tulsa, Okla., and director of Diversity and Inclusion for Student Senate, said after being put in charge of the status of minority reports, he discovered the University does not track retention rates of LGBTQ+ students, and as a result, the University has difficulty seeing their needs.
"I think it's really important given the fact that we are from Kansas," Rana said. "I personally know a lot of LGBT+ students who have left KU. It's my fourth year, and I've known so many LGBT+ students who aren't retained, and it's a shame, and I think it's something that our University should be proactive in trying to address."
There are a lot of students with teachers, when they're calling roll, they will call their birth name but not their preferred name,"
Omar Rana Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Student Senate
The Sexuality and Gender Diversity Consortium, a faculty and staff council, is looking at adding LGBTQ+ options to the admissions application, said Vanessa Delgado, director of the Sexuality and Gender Diversity Center. However, there are many concerns regarding this measure on how secure the information would be and who would have access to it.
Matt Melvin, vice provost of Enrollment Management, said in an email an "internal workgroup" has been established to determine how to
collect data on LGBTQ+ students. The group includes representatives from the Graduate School, Student Information Systems, Information Technology, Undergraduate Admissions, International Admissions, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Student Housing and the Office of Diversity and Equity.
"Based on our discussions to date, we do not believe the application for undergraduate admissions is the best, or appropriate place, to collect this information for a host of reasons," Melvin said in an email.
Instead, Melvin said the group is looking at adding a self-reporting option for students that could possibly be housed in the student portal. Melvin said students would be able to update or change information as they wish, after admission is granted.
Rana said another problem with the current application process is that it only allows an applicant to select male or female. For students who do not identify on the binary, Rana said this poses a major problem.
"You can only select male or female, that's the only way you can select it, and that goes to housing, then if you don't identify on the gender binary, like if you were born sex-male, but you identify as a female, you're not going to be put in the proper housing that you would like to be in and that's really problematic." Rana said.
Rana said there's also the issue of preferred names versus primary names. For
Rana said he hopes that the conversations pick up soon and that the administration starts investing in the needs of LGBTQ+ students.
students who use a name and pronouns that differ from the ones assigned at birth, being misnamed or misgendered in class is a problem.
"There are a lot of students with teachers, when they're calling roll, they will call their birth name but not their preferred name," Rana said.
Right now, the "Enroll and Pay" portal on the University's website allows students to change their preferred name but not pronouns or primary name. In an email, Melvin said despite the preferred name option, most of the University's systems will pull from the primary name option, which means for class rosters or campus-wide emails, students are being addressed by a name or gender they might not identify with.
might be implemented.
Although Melvin said conversations are taking place and concerns are being raised, there is no set timeline for when measures
"I think it's something the administration definitely needs to take a closer look at, because they're the ones, being as this is their job, to try and create solutions for this issue. And clearly it's an issue if someone who doesn't identify as a male, even though their sex assigned at birth is male, it's clearly an issue if they're put into a male dorm, or if someone is not asked their preferred name at roll call of the class," Rana said. "I think it's something our administration should definitively take a more proactive stance on."
- Edited by Samantha Harms
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Illustration by Sam Billman
Student activists Jameelah Jones and Kat Rainey embrace after Student Senate passes the fee review bill to fund a Multicultural Student Government.
Alex Robinson/KANSAN Student Government
SENATE FROM PAGE 1
Rainey and Jones also brought up previous statements from Senate leadership, when senators committed to "doubling" the funding of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
After about an hour of discussion and questions from senators, Logan Sutton, Holdover Senator, made a motion to separate the creation of a Multicultural Student Government from the larger budget bill. This would have allowed Senate to vote on the bill separate from the rest of the fee review bill.
Several senators lined up at the podium giving positive and negative speeches. After one speech by Senator Omar Rana, Harrison Baker, Junior/Senior College
The motion to separate the MSG amendment from the fee review bill ultimately failed. Before voting on the bill, Chief of Staff Adam Moon addressed Senate, and said he felt uneasy about funding a group that was so new, and without knowing more detail. Furthermore, Moon said he fears that a separate Multicultural Student Government would divide the student body 15 or 20 years down the road.
"I think that there are still concerns that are still valid going forward," Moon said.
Thomas said by voting on a Multicultural Student Government, the University has an opportunity to be an example for institutions across the nation. Thomas spoke about the history of the OMA and why it's important for black students to feel loved and supported on campus. Thomas encouraged senators to be on the "right side of history."
of Liberal Arts and Science Senator, yielded his time to Vice Provost of Diversity and Equity, Nate Thomas.
"This is your chance to be bold and aspire to greatness, that's all." Thomas said.
After a verbal by-the- roster vote, in which every senator was asked individually to announce their vote, the fee review bill passed by a vote of 51-9-6, and the creation of a Multicultural Student Government was approved.
"I think it's that we decided to look at students being valued, and to figure out, how do we work together so our students can work together." Thomas said. "Because it's really about them."
There were cheers, hugs and plenty of tears in the lobby of the Union after the vote. Thomas said he thinks this shows promise for the University.
- Edited by Brendan Dzwierzynski
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MARCH 10
TITUS ANDRONICUS
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MARCH 12
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MARCH 19
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