Long but Poignant

So, FYI, this post is a bit long, personal, professional, and reflective. (Or at least I hope it will be)

Over the past few months, since the 2012 Presidential Elections, the LGBT movement has been making strides left and right on marriage equality, more inclusive discrimination policies, adoption policies and so forth. No matter the position or opinions you may have on the issue, it is apparent that LGBT topics are rising and becoming a focal point for the nation.

On the campus/university front, it seems that more and more student LGBT and Ally organizations are being formed, resource centers are receiving additional support, more classes are being offered with a LGBT component and so forth.

However, amidst the whirlwind of activity on the LGBT front, and some repetitive situations happening in my life, I have been forced to wonder if the way we educate students on diversity issues is being effective. Or are we simply providing top layer services and educational tools to ensure funding and the title of being a diverse campus?

As I mentioned this is partly on the forefront of my mind because in the past week I’ve encountered, what I feel, is far too many ignorant and uneducated remarks and actions towards the LGBT community, even though I know the vast resources available in the immediate areas of the situations.

So here’s the rundown:

I was visiting my hometown this weekend, when I met an individual at a local event. He began asking the basic “Schmooze and Cruize” questions, until he asked if my female companion and I were dating. She and I looked at each other, and I responded “No, we’re only friends. She’s too fabulous for me anyway, and I don’t swing that way.” The young man froze, turned to me and asked “Oh, are you…you’re…you’re THAT” I looked at him patiently, giving him the opportunity to show him that he would not offend me by saying “gay”. About 30 seconds went by, and he was struggling, so I replied “Yeah, I identify as gay”. He looks at me and began a barrage of questions. During his questioning I came to realize that being asked about my identity and orientation, and my coming out process does not bother me. Its more the tone and specific questions that are asked. For this interaction, questions that were asked included “Why did I decide to be gay?”, “Why would I decide to identify as gay?”, “How was I received as a gay professional?”, and my favorite “Are you sure it’s ok at say ‘gay’ in a public event in (Name of City)”. I answered his questions to the best of my ability and I actually found it a learning opportunity for him to learn about the community as well as for myself to learn how to communicate and teach about it.

Now, normally this wouldn’t bother me, however this was the beginning of one of those snowball situations. A few days later an incident happened at my apartment complex. I live only a few blocks down from my university where I attend Graduate School. My roommates and I have been having some problems the past few months with apartment neighbors, all of whom are undergraduate students. There have been some vandalism and anti-LGBT actions against our property numerous times, particularly our cars.  This past weekend the latest incident was that someone wrote “Happy St. Patty’s Day fag” in the snow of one of the roommate’s cars with some vulgar images as well. The suspected culprits are students and friends of these students who are current undergraduates at the university I attend. Our landlord has been notified but has chosen not to address the issue, since there is no solid proof of those doing these things.

Now, I’m a patient and understanding guy, and can take a high amount of stress and ignorance, however, this just really got me thinking about society and how we educate (not) our society. And that led me to think about how we talk diversity, multiculturalism and integration to our students. In my class last term a guest speaker pointed out that there are difference between diversity programs, multicultural programs and integration programs and that these terms are not interchangeable. 

Looking in general at the two universities I have experienced personally, there is much diversity awareness on campus. However, it seems that there is a gap somewhere between awareness and education/intergration. The basic definition of diversity according to Merriam-Webster, for this case, is: “the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization”. To me it’s saying diversity is simply the representation of different groups. Individuals do not have to learn or be educated on each other, nor do they even have to integrate together. Diversity is to simply exist side-by-side. I do not use the word co-exist because I feel that means there is that component of integration and education.

So, while diversity is getting a firm grip in the experience of our college students, at what point do we push for further education to move our students to the next level of awareness and understanding and dare I say, enlightenment. We don’t need them to agree, or even like all views, because it’s the differences that should also be embraced. However, they should not be unaware, uneducated, or even unable to speak to someone who’s different. While race and gender can easily be seen (and even that is not always the case) there are many other sub-populations of students who need support, and understanding as well. A class I'm taking currently has us studying the multitude of sub-populations on campuses. These sub-populations include students with disabilities, religious/ students of faith, LGBT, and student veterans which are only a few of many that should be included in diversity, multiculturalism and integration programs in addition to race and gender.

Now resources are always limited, and as Student Affairs professionals it seems our motto is becoming “Do more with less and don’t forget to assess”. (Like my rhyme? J) However, isn’t this then a great time to really pay heed and begin to truly educate our students on sub-populations and even different communities of society in general? It’s a time of re-vamping programs and initiatives to ensure we are doing more with less. So, why not be purposeful and pro-active? Our society is becoming more and more global by the hour. Social Technology is seeing to that. Diversity education should reflect that and begin to dig further and really educate on societal sub-populations.

Now, I can’t offer any expert or professional suggestions on how to fix this, and possibly will never be able to offer such advice. At this moment, I can only offer my thoughts and musings in the hopes that it will help me to find a small solution or helps someone else to find that missing key to fill in the gap. Right now, the only thing I can do is to be more purposeful in my actions and professional work. Purposefully use terms, theories and practices. Ones that reflect not only good SA practice but education as well. Lead by example to the best of my ability, and be willing to learn myself. Maybe that’s the key. If we each do a little to teach and learn, about our communities, it’ll have a lot of impact in the larger scope of things.