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Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity opens dedicated LGBTQ+ space in Union
Roze Brooks, graduate assistant for the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, speaks at the opening of the Center's new space for LGBTQ+ students in the Kansas Union. The space is located in room 420.
JESSICA LARSON/KANSAN
LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
The Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity opened a new space dedicated to LGBTQ+ students on Wednesday.
The space is an extension of the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. The new space is located in the Student Involvement and Leadership Center in the Kansas Union.
Vanessa Delgado, assistant director, said the center has provided services and resources for LGBTQ+ students in the past, but not in a physical space.
"We had to have an LGBTQ+ resource space dedicated just for our queer students where they can come and be who they are and be honest and open about who they are rather than having to hide that;" Delgado said.
The resource center is opening after about two years of preparation and funding, according to Student Body Vice President Zach George.
"It was something that was lacking on our campus," George said. "We have a large LGBT community, and we didn't have anything like
this. And so Student Senate stepped up to the plate and tried to fund a resource center where people could go and get information and connect and network and just be who they are."
Roze Brooks, a SILC graduate assistant in the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, said although it's been a long road, they're happy to finally have the resource center. "It's been a really lengthy but really rewarding process trying to figure out what we were going to do with the space, how we were going to get the space to look like what it looks like right now, and how we were going to get the resources we wanted," Brooks said.
Now that it's here, Brooks said they think the center will be very helpful for LGBTQ+ students on campus.
"I think bringing them to this space, specifically, so close to some of the student organizations and professional staff that are doing work on campus, is going to open up opportunities for LGBT students to get involved in things they might not have known otherwise or had access to otherwise," Brooks said.
big step for a college campus. "It's very innovative for KU to even have a space like this, because not every university across the country has these spaces," Delgado said. "The last time I looked, there were only about 240 colleges across the country that have spaces like this. When you consider the thousands of colleges and universities, there's thousands. It means a lot that KU has a space like this."
Delgado said that having an
In addition to providing a space for LGBTQ+ students, the center will continue its work outside the office in planning events like Transgender Awareness Month in November.
LGBTQ+ dedicated space is a big step for a college campus.
For now, Delgado said, the center is working on making sure students know there is a safe space for them to be themselves.
"We really want students to know that this is here and feel welcome to come and be in this space." Delgato said. "Because this is a space for them."
Edited by Jackson Vickery
KU leaders discuss safety with Regents
ALANA FLINN
@alana_flinn
In separate meetings with the Kansas Board of Regents, presidents of university and student government organizations discussed plans to get student feedback regarding campus safety.
At the meetings, both groups discussed laws that would allow people to carry a concealed gun into buildings on Regents college campuses beginning in 2017.
In 2013, the Kansas Legislature passed the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act, which allowed people with concealed carry permits to carry weapons into public buildings, like universities, court houses and city halls. In July, a law eliminating the requirement to obtain a permit for a concealed carry weapon went into effect.
The University is exempt from the laws until 2017, so possession of guns in campus buildings is still prohibited. The exemption is set to expire on July 1, 2017, at which time people would be able to carry a concealed weapon into those buildings without a permit.
Several subcommittees of the Regents, including University Senate and Student Advisory Committee, will work together to research and gather information on student opinion about weapons on campus.
"The conversations today seem to indicate, as the other groups start to activate their process of information gathering, the Regents may become a sort of clearinghouse or catalyst for sharing of information," said Mike Williams, the University Senate president. "There would most likely be either one single survey that comes out and all the data is shared with all schools, or some combination thereof. Some of the conversation was seeing how that could be organized or orchestrated."
Student Body President Jessie Pringle spoke on behalf of the Student Advisory Committee and detailed future plans for a survey on the topics of gun safety, training and education.
"We have been discussing surveying the student body at each institution, so when we are asked by the Board, the
University or the State, we have an answer to 'what is the true student opinion?" Pringle said. "We are moving forward to find adequate information on the opinion of students." Pringle said the survey would be created by the Docking Institute at Fort Hays State University and administered at every Regents campus. Funding for the surveys is under discussion among Regents student body presidents. As of now, the Student Advisory Committee hopes to have information collected by December so student leaders can advocate for the popular student opinion during the spring semester
Williams said presidents of university governance also discussed the survey and that the University is a few steps ahead of other schools on campus safety. The University has established an ad hoc committee comprised of students, faculty and staff that conducts research and discusses what the best solutions for weapons on campus are.
"We're not trying to control weapons or guns that are legal to be carried. That's not our purpose."
MIKE WILLIAMS University Senate President
"We're not trying to control weapons or guns that are legal to be carried. That's not our purpose," Williams said. "What we're trying to establish is practice that allows an individual to feel more comfortable in their environment, develop the ways to handle situations that may arise or how to react to a threat if they perceive one. This is a more proactive way to help people recognize this is something they need to acknowledge soon."
Whether the exemption is reinstated or not, Williams said, the University will work to establish a learning environment that is safe for all students.
"Some schools haven't done that," Williams said. "We're a little ahead of the curve."
- Edited by Maddy Mikinski
Who is keeping your campus safe?
The Kansas Board of Regents is comprised of nine members who are all appointed by the governor.
What is University Senate?
"We are the representative voice that speaks to and with the administration to share the governance of the University," Williams said.
University Senate is the representative body including 39 members of Faculty Senate members, 13 members of Student Senate and 12 members of Staff Senate.
Specifically, University Senate addresses and negotiates any particular policy, procedure or plan that affects students, staff and faculty.
What is the Kansas Board of Regents?
"The Board of Regents are all professionals," Pringle said. "Some have law practices or are past legislators."
The board meets regularly to "consider matters relating to academic affairs, fiscal affairs, facilities and policy and procedure," according to the University Senate code. It oversees 33 public institutions, including community colleges and public universities across Kansas.
The committee is comprised of each student body president from the six state universities: Wichita State University, the University of Kansas, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State University and Kansas State University.
What is the Student Advisory Committee?
"Essentially, the committee's job is to discuss issues on the Board from a student perspective," Pringle said. "The Board's job is to make decisions and policies, so having a student voice is important."
In the mid-1970s, state legislators mandated the creation of a student committee that would advise the Kansas Board of Regents.
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