LGBT student center

LGBT student centers are administrative offices of a college or university that provide resources and support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students.

Function

Depending on the campus, an LGBT Campus Center's mission may include faculty support, student advocacy, alumni relations, and/or public relations with the greater community (especially in response to crisis).

An LGBT Campus Center may provide academic resources related to LGBT Studies, support social opportunities for LGBT people to interact, and sponsor educational events for the campus as a whole. Most Campus Centers provide referrals to other campus departments or off-campus organizations to help meet student needs.

The University of Pennsylvania has one of the oldest LGBTQ centers in the country. It enthusiastically support LGBTQ students in many ways; they actively offer peer mentorships, provide spacious space to socialize and study, and many activities every months in order to make LGBTQ students allies and reduce prejudice of straight students.[1]

Some LGBT Campus Centers provide psychological counseling for students struggling with their sexual or gender identity and for students coping with internal or external prejudice. Some example scenarios of when a student might seek out counseling from an LGBT Campus Center:

  • A questioning student seeks help understanding their sexual identity
  • A self-affirmed transgender student has just experienced a bias-motivated attack
  • A straight student is having difficulty coping with a gay roommate

Demographics

According to a November 2006 report by the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education, there are 115 LGBT Campus Centers that employ professional staff in North America, though this figure is not comprehensive. According to the

Of The Advocate's "Top 20 Universities for LGBT Students", the University of Puget Sound is the only one without an explicit LGBT Campus Center. However, the University's Multicultural Student Services office serves LGBT students in addition to other minority student populations. The University of Southern California, a school that received a perfect "GPA" (Gay Point Average) from the Advocate, has both an LGBT Resource Center and a GLBT Student Assembly.

Notes

  1. ↑ "About Us". Division of the Vice Provost for University Life University of Pennsylvania. Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  • Map of LGBT Campus Centers
  • Directory of LGBT Campus Centers
  • Self-studies of the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education
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