[From the Winter, 1996 issue of The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Newsletter]
The services which Harvard offers its lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) students lag significantly behind those provided by comparable universities. After months of discussions the College has given an office to the undergraduate LGB student group (BGLSA). Without official status, funding or staff it is doubtful how valuable this office can be, although the Caucus is working with the BGLSA to explore the feasibility of obtaining funding from The Open Gate for a part-time work-study student. The Caucus has proposed that the College study how effectively Harvard is now meeting the needs of its LGB undergraduates but -- after eight weeks -- there has been no response to its proposal.
LGB Resource Offices at Other Universities. Every day on average two dozen students visit or call the LGB Student Resources Office at UCLA. The Director of the office, Charles Outcalt Div '94, spends upwards of five hours a day working with students. Some are in crisis, and don't know where else to turn for information and referrals. Others need information on matters such as campus resources, internship possibilities or research topics. A significant number of the students are heterosexual, seeking information on the LBG community for academic research, because a roommate, friend or family member is lesbian, gay or bisexual, or from simple curiosity. In the balance of his time Charles has developed a Resources Guide which identifies the major service providers and refers to individuals who have indicated a particular background in or sensitivity to LGB student issues. He has also identified areas in which the University's services need improvement - including a need for female-to-female prophylactics, a need to counter a trend towards unsafe sexual behavior among male students, and the need to improve service to lgb students of color. He has been assisted by 50-plus weekly work hours of a diverse group of interns and volunteers. The UCLA office was opened in 1995 in response to reports issued in 1990 by the Student Affairs Information and Research Office and in 1991 by The Chancellor's Council on Diversity.
The experience has been similar at other universities with LGB Resource Offices, such as Cornell and the University of Michigan. In its first year of operation the Cornell office reports initiatives in a dazzling range of areas: networking both within and beyond the University, supporting and advocating for the LGB community, sponsoring over 15 educational programs, developing resources, forming an advisory group and a men's staff and faculty group, initiating a world wide web page, forming a group for straight allies, creating a peer counseling program, sponsoring a series of brown bag lunches and offering a series of programs for alumni.
LGB Resources at Harvard. Harvard has no LGB resource office, and no staff person who devotes a major portion of his or her time to meeting LGB student needs. Significant services are provided in particular areas, and credit is due to individuals who perform superbly in specific contexts. But there is no one place and no one person where students can go for information and referrals.
The most concerted attempt to provide services to LGB students is the Designated Tutor/Proctor Program coordinated by Assistant Dean for Coeducation Virginia (Ginger) Mackay-Smith and her assistant Susan Maxwell Reisert. This group has met over lunch several times this fall and winter, and receives a monthly mailing from the Deans office. (Caucus member and Associate Registrar Thurston Smith joined the group at its January meeting.) In 1994-95 the Adams house Designated Tutors sponsored a film series, distributed a quiz and organized a poetry reading; there was also a panel discussion in Quincy House and two movie/dinner/discussion groups for freshmen. Additionally, Dean Mackay-Smith's office distributes a brochure to all incoming students entitled Working Towards A Community of Equals, which provides useful information and a list of contacts throughout the University; the Caucus appreciated being given the opportunity for input to the most recent edition.
The Designated Tutors are a caring and dedicated group, but their time is stretched by the demands of their studies, teaching responsibilities and other advising duties. Marvelous work has been done in the Yard in the past few years by Assistant Dean of Freshman Mike Middleton and this year by Designated Proctors Bruce Richman and Beth Bellman. But not all Designated Tutors are equally active, several Houses have been slow to designate Tutors, and Dudley House and Winthrop House have not designated Tutors at all. Dean Mackay-Smith herself spends half time as Secretary to the Administrative Board and the other half as Assistant Dean for Coeducation, which includes responsibility for sexual harassment policy and complaints as well as coordinating the Designated Tutors. She has achieved a remarkable amount in the small portion of her day which she is able to devote to issues of sexual orientation.
There are additional LGB services scattered across campus. One-on-one counseling and an AIDS support group are available at University Health Services; the undergraduate group Contact offers peer counseling and a variety of meetings and events are offered to undergraduates by BGLSA, Girl Spot and other student groups; the Office of Career Services is sensitive to LGB issues. There may be services we don't even know about. But there is no central office. There is no full or even half-time coordinator. The overall level of services provided to Harvard students is dramatically lower than at comparable universities.
The BGLSA Office. At the beginning of the fall term the leaders of BGLSA opened a dialogue with Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III concerning their perception that Harvard was not providing adequate services to its undergraduates. In October, Dean Epps offered the BGLSA an office in the basement of Holworthy Hall, which BGLSA hoped to use as an LGB Resource Office, with support from both the College and The Open Gate. Dean Epps' office prepared a budget which included telephone charges and salary for a half-time work-study student as well as start-up costs. After months of temporizing, however, the College has decided not to provide, finance or supervise staff for the office. Although The Open Gate has expressed willingness to finance a part-time work-study student to staff the center, the ability of the student group to launch and administer a resource office without Harvard's assistance is uncertain.
Credit should be given to Dean Epps for his willingness to give BGLSA office space, basic furniture, shelves and a $500 allowance for books. Dean Epps has shown a commendable level of sensitivity to the concerns of LGB students, and to the need to combat homophobia among the straight student population. Congratulations should also be extended to BGLSA for taking the initiative to press for this space, with special credit going to its Political Coordinator, Joshua Oppenheimer '96-'97. It should also be noted that much of Harvard's delay in implementing the plan is excusable due to Dean Epps' illness. He has returned to work after a successful kidney transplant and we wish him a speedy and complete return to good health.
The future of the BGLSA resource office is far from assured, however. Harvard's refusal to participate in hiring, financing or supervising a staff person places the entire burden on the students themselves. Even with financial support from The Open Gate and advice and assistance from the Caucus, hiring and supervising a work-study student is a challenging task for BGLSA at a time when it has a number other projects pending. We are hopeful at this point that a meaningful facility can be opened within the next few months, but the ability of an office managed and staffed by students to meet the many outstanding needs is uncertain. We continue to feel, as noted in my letter to the Editors of The Crimson of November 1, 1995 that it is Harvard's responsibility to meet the needs of its students, and that a GLB Resource Office should be staffed, financed and managed by Harvard College, not by undergraduates and alumni/ae.
Contributions of money, books and other resource material to help get the BGLSA resource office up and running, and offers of time and expertise, should be directed to Hugh Russell, [email protected], (617) 864-9596. Contributions to The Open Gate for this purpose are tax-deductible.
The Caucus Proposes a Study. Again and again, during our meetings with Dean Epps, students and Caucus members expressed the view that the needs of LGB students at Harvard were not being adequately met while Dean Epps opined that they were being met, or would be by the proposed office. It became clear that we all had opinions, based on personal experience and anecdotes, but that none of had objective and comprehensive information about LGB student needs and the adequacy of existing services. Accordingly, on January 2, 1996, the Caucus submitted to the Dean's office a proposal for a study of the needs of LGB students at Harvard College. Dean Mackay-Smith, to whom we delivered the proposal, expressed general support for the concept but eight weeks have passed since the proposal was made without a response. The Caucus considers this study of the highest importance and we intend to vigorously urge the College administration to undertake it.
Beyond the College. This article, and the Caucus' efforts this year, have focused on Harvard College, despite the fact that services to LGB students are even more limited in the graduate and professional schools. In part this is based on our belief that the need for services is most acute among younger students. But in large part it is due to the fact that the undergraduates have pressed these concerns this year and students at other schools have not. The Caucus sees its role in relation to student groups as supporting their initiatives - offering help and counsel but not telling students what we think they ought to want. We stand ready to work with students at other schools who wish to improve the delivery of services by Harvard at their schools or on a University-wide basis.