DIVERSITY AT UIC is inherent,
yet sensitivity to the campus’s varied population benefits from focused
institutional attention. The Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer People and Allies (CCSLGBTQPA) works with the
Chancellor and Provost to address issues and concerns of the gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgender, and queer community at UIC.
THE COMMITTEE revised its name
last year to expand its reach and recognize the transgendered and queer
communities, as well as allies.
“IT IS important that
the Chancellor’s Committee is inclusive in as many ways as we can be,” said
committee co-chair Patricia O’Brien,
associate professor of Social Work. “We want people to feel welcome. Words are
important. We value everyone across the rainbow. And we recognize that allies
are crucial to change in the world: We recognize that these people are
straight, but not narrow.”
THE COMMITTEE operates with a
duo of balanced leadership comprised of a faculty and a staff member. Their
terms overlap, so that one leader always has experience with the group.
(O’Brien, who has led the committee in the past, is completing a one-year
appointment to fill a gap.)
CO-CHAIR PHILIP Vasquez, associate director of Student Development Services, was recruited to
join the committee by a past chair and then volunteered to be a co-chair
through spring of 2014. Vasquez joined because he wanted to integrate his
professional work with diversity education—including co-directing the First
Year Dialogue Seminar, a diversity seminar for freshmen—with diversity work
around the campus.
“THE COMMITTEE advocates on
institutional issues for faculty, employees, and students,” Vasquez said. “I am
interested in student issues, especially transgender issues. My work with that population exposes a lot of
marginalization. My priority is to
advocate for these students, and this committee cuts across units and offices
at UIC.”
THE COMMITTEE also collaborates
on many projects and issues with the Gender and Sexuality Center.
AMONG FUTURE goals, Vasquez
cites increasing outreach to faculty regarding LGTBQ students on campus.
“Anecdotally, we hear from students on campus that they struggle with
professors who are hetero-normative or traditional-gender oriented and may ask
questions that aren’t inclusive,” Vasquez said.
O’BRIEN ALSO stressed the
importance of nurturing campus diversity and examining barriers. “The
administration talks about our amazing diversity, but that doesn’t mean the
climate and environment are absolutely friendly,” she said. “I can tell you
from surveys that everything is not all right—we need consistent attention on
comments and actions that keep people from being fully included.”
AMONG THOSE barriers is a
registration system that only allows for legal first names—not preferred first
names—to be listed. Legal first names often are gender-specific, and professors
calling roll inadvertently make students disclose a gender they may not
identify with, O’Brien explained. “In every single class, that student has to
disclose they are not the assumed gender that the name implies,” O’Brien said.
“This is huge for that student and how they are engaged in that class. They
have to automatically tell their story, whether they want to or not.”
THE UIC campus is a
leader within the University of Illinois, Vasquez noted, as the only campus
that currently includes transgendered health issues in campus health insurance.
The Board of Trustees voted last year to allow people to use their medical plan
to move toward surgery related to change in gender.
AN ISSUE currently under
exploration by CCSLGBTQPA is the inclusive climate at the University of
Illinois Hospital. “We have questions about the UI Hospital not being on the
Health Equality Index, which is sponsored by a national organization, the Human
Rights Campaign,” O’Brien said, noting the index “indicates the degree to which
a hospital is LGBT-affirming and inclusive. This includes the training that
medical personnel get with language around patients and partners. This matters
in the context of dealing with serious issues. We are developing a task force
to move forward with training for the hospital to be more cognizant and
affirming.”
THE UIC campus does hold
a five-star rating from the Campus Pride Climate Index and is listed among the
top 25 LGBT friendly school in the nation. “This is fantastic,” O’Brien said.
“The Alliance for Safe Schools says that because we have structures in
place—like the CCSLGBTQPA, partner benefits, and the Gender and Sexuality
Center—we have gone a ways to establish a safe context. This is very
important.”
THE CCSLGBTQPA awards annual
scholarships to a UIC graduate and undergraduate student demonstrating
excellence and involvement in the LGBTQ community.
THE COMMITTEE’S focus on students culminates in the annual Lavender Graduation, a
celebration for LGBTQPA students and their family and friends, as well as
faculty and staff. The event is sponsored by the gender and Sexuality Center,
with funding and personal support from the CCSLGBTQPA. Now in its eighth year,
the event continues to grow in size and importance, both Vasquez and O’Brien
report. This year’s event is slated for Friday, May 2, 4-6:30 p.m. in the UIC
Forum. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax4BMPbUNsI)
“I WAS at the first
one,” O’Brien recalled. “There were three graduates. Last year, there were
about 50 graduates and we have outgrown the space we used to use. This year we
will be at the Forum. It is a great celebration, a connecting event—very affirming.”
“THE EVENT validates the
students’ hard work and the University’s support of them,” Vasquez said.
“Twenty-five years ago, this event didn’t exist. It makes the students feel
good that University leaders support them. We get great feedback on it.”
THE CCSLGBTQPA also supports the
Lavender Research Forum. The Monday, April 14, event in Room 1-470 of the UIC
Daley Library will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free and open to the
public (RSVP to philipva@uic.edu
for lunch reservations). UIC alum Kim
Hunt, executive director of Affinity Community Services, a social justice
organization on the South Side specializing in work on behalf of Black LGBTQ
adults and youth, will be the keynote speaker.
“I AM very excited
about this keynote,” O’Brien said. “She is one of ours—earning a master’s in
urban planning and policy in 1987—and has amazing experience in the community.
She can talk about the linkage of community and university research.”
MEMBERS OF the UIC community
are invited to become involved in the CCSLGBTQPA. While the 14 positions on the
official roster are by appointment by the Chancellor, meetings are public and
all are invited to attend.
“ANYONE CAN attend and get
involved,” Vasquez said. “We have working teams, and the UIC public can get
involved. We like volunteers and new people to come. I especially want to
encourage younger and newer staff to come get involved. This isn’t a group just
for ‘higher ups’…I’d love to see more Academic Professionals show up.”
THE COMMITTEE’S next monthly meeting is Thursday, April 10, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in
Room 2750 of University Hall.
| Upcoming CCSLGBTQPA dates: |
Thursday, April
10—Monthly committee meeting, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Room 2750, University
Hall.
|
Monday, April 14
–Lavender Research Forum, Room 1-470,
UIC Daley Library, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free and open to the public (RSVP to philipva@uic.edu for lunch reservations).
|
Friday, May
2—Lavender Graduation, 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the UIC Forum.
|
