Nearly a year after the Senate passed a resolution to create a resource center for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and ally (GLBTQIA) community, a task force has been initiated to begin discussing GLBTQIA issues. Members of the faculty and leaders of the different student groups will gather to discuss how to improve campus resources for students of alternative lifestyles and orientations.

Professor of Anthropology T.R. Kidder was asked by James McLeod, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, to head the newly created task force.

“One of the things that I hope we can do is create an environment at the University at all levels where being gay, transgender, etc. is not remarkable and people who have that particular orientation or lifestyle are safe in all ways,” said Kidder.

Although the task force has been created, hiring new staff persons to provide a full-time resource could take even longer. Kidder attributes these delays to the bureaucratic nature of the University.

“[The issues] go up the chain of command to the chancellor, who is a busy person and has to consider it and weigh the issues,” said Kidder. “I think they take time for that reason, as they are very sensitive to many people of all spectrums. They should be undertaken with due gravity.”

As a staff member also assisting with the task force, Jill Carnaghi, vice chancellor for students, hopes that “the task force would review the original petition that was brought forth to Student Union and Senate and look at future recommendations to better serve GLBTQIA people.”

While no campus resource center is in sight, Carnaghi maintains that “there have been no setbacks whatsoever. All members have signed on and we’re now looking at gathering student representatives.”

Junior Tom Giarla, co-president of PRIDE Alliance, hoped that the task force would create “a safe space available on campus with a staff person that is trained to help with counseling and can direct the person to services in the community that they might need.

“I think every student group has problems with consistency. Having someone constantly working with us and all the other groups would be a real benefit,” said Giarla.

While the creation of the task force has been viewed as a positive effort on the part of the University, some students are still wary that not enough is being done to meet the specifications of the original SU petition.

Alumnus Kerry Chaplin, former president of Keshet, the Jewish GLBTQIA organization, was concerned with SU’s proposal for a resource center.

“I’m not really sure that’s the solution. I think the best part would be to get a GLBTQIA staff person to work through the Office of Student Activities or some other office. I think that’s a better direction to go than a center.”

Former SU Senator Abram Rose submitted the original proposal last January and emphasized the importance of the resource center as providing a “permanent safety net.” He also stated that such a resource center would take some of the pressure off of student groups.

“[The University] can talk all they want about the task force, but until they have the actual infrastructure in place I don’t think that they’re really getting anything done. I’m not happy with the current results,” said Rose.

In January 2005, the Student Union Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for “the creation and maintenance of a GLBTQA resource center with adequate staff” and “the creation of a University task force to investigate GLBTQA issues.” The resolution was then passed on to McLeod for approval.

McLeod called for a task force to be created, yet several months of delays led to no results. The proposed task force was to be a collaborative effort between faculty and students to create a more permanent resource for students.

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