Diversity Statement: LGBTQIA Community

Since the beginning of their existence and in today’s society, the community of LGBT workers are not being treated fairly or getting their fair share that they deserve in the workplace. They are victims to high rates of workplace discrimination. Instead of being judged as workers and what they bring to their jobs and how they work, they are being judged by their sexual preferences and appearance. Being a gay or transgender worker causes them to be mistreated, not judged for the actual workers they are, and most importantly, halts a majority of them in better career and job opportunities. Although under federal law it is illegal to fire someone who is either gay or transgender, they are still either being denied employment or being terminated from their jobs because of their gender category or sexual orientation.

Attending Loyola University Chicago, a Jesuit institution focused on a social justice education, has been a distinctive learning experience. Integrating current examples of social justice alongside coursework has profoundly shaped my worldviews. To become better informed, I attended events such as Social Justice Dinner Dialogues, where discussing topics such as police accountability and combating mental health issues in the community, opened my eyes to the nuances of prejudice and real-world intervention. After being exposed to social justice awareness, I wanted a stronger grasp on why these issues occurred and how to study

Dr. Cephas Archie is the Diversity & Inclusion Program Coordinator for Houston Community College (HCC), where he assists in the implementation of the colleges 7 + campus Diversity & Inclusion Plan. Collaboratively working with all institutional stakeholders – both internal and external, Dr. Archie spearheads the institution’s diversity and inclusion efforts for the near 81,000 students, faculty and staff. As an employee of the Office of Institutional Equity at HCC, his efforts are accompanied by the college’s Diversity & Inclusion Council.

INTRO: Prompt: What should “diversity on campus” mean and why? Hook: Does diversity help liberate narrow-mindedness? What exactly is diversity? To say that diversity is approached on school campuses is an understatement to the level of understanding in this increasingly globalized world. By its definition, “diversity” requires inclusion. Are school’s really working toward the inclusion of everyone? This means including color, national origin, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation. Looking at court cases and polls shown in the short articles, “Introduction from Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America” and “The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality,” their approach to strengthening

The topic of social justice was not always a passion of mine to pursue in life. Growing up in a small town it was always difficult to see the gaps in our society. It was not until I started working for a Christian nonprofit that helped change my philosophies. For the past three years, I have been working as a missionary with Destino; a Christian nonprofit that focuses on raising up a generation of Latino college students to go out and change the world wherever God has called them. Since moving out of my small town and into an urban environment I have been able to witness firsthand the struggles Latino college students face. The worries they face as an undocumented student paying their way through college because they do not qualify for financial aid. The problems within Latino culture and the importance of providing for their family rather than receiving a college degree. The difficulties of fighting racism as a minority student attending a majority culture university. These are only a handful of struggles my students face everyday living in Denver. Although working with Destino, I have learned the importance of being culturally aware and to continue fighting on to be a voice to others who are unable to

Growing up as a Latino in a community where most of the population are Hispanic had made me blind, detached from the reality of the world and the reality of the college experience, especially in Santa Cruz. Looking at the world I have always known to an extent who had more privilege than others, special attention, and more rights. I have also vaguely known which groups have been treated with less respect seen as less, but all of this didn’t really seem to matter to me in my immediate world. Coming to Santa Cruz on trips such as ORALE and JUSTICE has made me see, made me realize that it does affect me, my family, and my community that privilege is something that isn’t gifted to us but which we fight for, which causes us to be looked at differently

For over a century the University of Texas (UT) has served as a leading institution educating America’s leaders, however; the lingering effects of prior discrimination haunt the campus. Due to perceptions that UT’s environment is not supportive of underrepresented minority students, the University lacks diversity within its student body. Regardless, UT continues to receive an overwhelmingly selective applicant pool. However, without student diversity UT deems it difficult to perform its mission of providing superior educational opportunities while aiding the advancement of our society.

The exponential growth of the Latina/o population is symptomatic of an unquestionable shift in the demographic landscape, and is also reflected in the demographic make-up of higher education. As of 2012, Latina/os constitute the largest ethnic/racial minority group in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Furthermore, Latina/o undergraduate students constitute the largest minority group on college campuses, at 19% of total students enrolled (Pew Research Center, 2014). Research also indicates that Latina/o students experience continued racial discrimination on college campuses (Chavez & French, 2007; Yosso, Smith, Ceja, & Solórzano, 2009; Cokley, Hall-Clark, & Hicks, 2011; Zeiders, Doane, & Roosa, 2012).

Despite the prevalence of racial discrimination in higher education, not enough is known about Latina/o students’ experience with racial discrimination and racial microaggressions in higher education. The extant explorations of racial discrimination on university campuses have primarily focused on the experiences of White, African American and Asian American college students. The research that has examined Latina/o experiences of racial microaggressions in higher education has largely focused on non-HSIs. Consequently, it is imperative to understand the unique challenges of Latina/os in higher education, including how university racial climate and experiences with discrimination/oppression influence

This organization focuses on increasing the tolerance for and creating a safe campus for the LGBTQ+ community. It is located on UNL’s campus on the third floor of the Union. The director is Pat Tetreault. The official mission statement is as follows:

My goal since beginning high school has been to create a safer school environment for LGBTQ students. Although the climate has become much more tolerant, bullying and discrimination are still rampant in the hallways, the classrooms and the Facebook statuses of students at my school.

Currently, we have yet to see adequate accommodations to Latinx culture within the public preparatory education system here in the U.S. Speaking on my behalf, I did not receive much enlightenment relative to this field as our history courses were simply focused on the founding fathers of our nation (and revolved around the American Revolution against the British.) In fact, it was until my undergraduate years here at the university where I enrolled myself as a Latinx/Mexican-American Studies minor and began to familiarize myself with my identity and the long history behind my culture. Even then, it has come to my attention that there are a select few universities that offer Latinx studies and courses similar to A&M’s. As a first-generation minority student enrolled at a pre-dominantly white institution, I can vouch for myself to say I carry a different perspective of the world that may differ than most of my peers due to my upbringing. Coming from a low-income community with inadequate resources and conditions, I found myself closely relating to the narrative that

On January 30th, 2017, I went to a Courageous Conversations talk offered by the Center of Faith and Justice in the Gallagher Student Center at Xavier University. Dr. Kyra Shahid, associate director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, lead the discussion which focused on the experiences of LatinX people on college campuses pre- and post- the US presidential election of Donald Trump. The discussion focused on people of Latino decent including the countries of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South and Central American and how President Donald Trump’s executive orders has and will affect them. People from many different countries apart from the ones listed about were invited to speak up and ask questions about the situation.

Being queer isn't an insult! Many people of the LGBTQ ( lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community feel attacked by people who are homophobic towards them. People should be informed about the LGBTQ community, and how they are not bad people for being queer. Mainly because there is a big stigma associated with being part of the LGBTQ community.

What is equality? Is it just a political nomenclature or an ideological concept? Or is about working towards creating a fairer society in which each individual can enjoy his/her rights and freedom without any judgement considering that “[w]e will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.” Will Rogers (1924, p210).