LGBTQ+ faculty express hope for future of campus diversity

DYLAN HEMBROUGH reporter

Last semester’s campus climate survey revealed concerns and worries people of minority groups on campus held about their safety and identity.

Gary Hicks, a professor in the mass communications department and member of the LGBTQ+ community, said he once harbored some fear that his career would be stunted by perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community on campus.

“When I started here 25 years ago, my doctoral dissertation was on an issue involving the LGBTQ community, and I was very concerned whether I would have trouble getting a job,” Hicks said. “At no point was that ever an issue, so I’ve been very thankful to SIUE for providing, at least in my experience, a very open and welcoming community.”

Ezra Temko, assistant professor of sociology and member of the LGBTQ+ community, said it makes sense that survey respondents felt that the campus was more inclusive than the surrounding areas.

“The university [has] an extra layer of protection compared to the community,” Temko said.

Hicks said this “extra layer of protection” is likely due in part to SIUE’s status as a public university. However, even with this insulation from the surrounding areas, SIUE is not immune to homophobia and transphobia. Anti-trans stickers and vandalism of menstruation products in bathrooms have cropped up on campus.

Despite the offensive stickers and vandalism, Nick Niemerg, president and co-founder of the Queer Faculty and Staff Association, said the university has generally worked quickly to act on these incidents.

“I really do applaud the Facilities Management team for being so quick to respond to any of those acts of vandalism and taking care of it very quickly, so I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Niemerg said.

AROUND ONE-FIFTH OF STUDENTS SURVEYED IDENTIFY AS LGBTQ+

According to the survey, around 8 percent of faculty and staff identified as LGBTQ+, compared to 21 percent of students. Hicks, Temko and Niemerg all agreed that this trend is due in part to the current generation of college students being more aware and more understanding of LGBTQ+ issues.

“I think it’s a generational effect. I think as Gen Z folks get older, I don’t think they’re going to stop being those identities,” Temko said. “I have an 8-yearold and I think that he’s being raised with a lot more understanding and exposure to what LGBTQIA+ is.”

Hicks said he was equally surprised and pleased at the percentage of students who identify as LGBTQ+, but that that statistic is indicative of wider trends within Generation Z, the current generation of college students.

Niemerg agreed, saying Generation Z is more “fluid” with how they identify.

“I think that speaks to the generation of students who are here. Gen Z students just grew up in more accepting environments, perhaps not at their home, perhaps not if they came from a small town, but once they come to the university,” Hicks said.

“That’s the real purpose of a university, is to not only educate, but part of that education is to surround yourself with people who are unlike yourself.”

Hicks said the 8 percent figure of LGBTQ+ faculty and staff likely does not reflect the real number, again, due to the environment in which they were raised.

“I would argue, going back to the faculty, that there’s more than 8 percent, and probably the reason they are not out is simply because of the generation in which they were raised,” Hicks said.

DIVERSITY IS NOT A ONEAND-DONE DEAL

While Hicks, Temko and Niemerg all agreed SIUE has provided a welcoming environment to members of the LGBTQ+ community, they also said there is still plenty of work to be done.

“When I first started here, diversity simply was about race, and that was it. It has been really an uphill climb to get administration to understand that diversity means so much more than race,” Hicks said. “In terms of continuing to truly embrace all forms of diversity — that is something the university has to continue actively working on.”

Hicks said the LGBTQ+ community has only recently been considered in diversity training compared to other marginalized groups, and should continue to emphasize a more inclusive form of diversity.

“When diversity is such an important issue, it is hard to see yourself being one of the least looked at groups,” Hicks said. “Especially when we have such a large number of students who identify as that, it really should shift the priorities of the univer- sity administration who focus on issues of diversity.”

Temko said there are often good ideas around diversity, but that they can easily get caught up in bureaucracy and red tape.

“I would say that overall, I think that SIUE does want to welcome LGBTQIA+ students, staff and faculty,” Temko said. “However, I think that SIUE is often hesitant to take action if it might upset people.”

Temko said inspiration could be taken from SIUE’s antiracism task force in implementing a broad anti-oppression course for students, faculty and staff.

“I would love to see, like how we had the antiracism task force, a task force that really looks at SIUE structurally and systemically and says, ‘What’s going on in terms of our curriculums, what does language on forms look like, what are the ways that we are reproducing heterosexism and heteronormativity, [and] how can we challenge it?’ and then actually implement those things,” Temko said.

Temko also said one of the problems facing celebration of diversity is the lack of education on the various terms used to discuss these ideas.

“I think there’s a good segment of our university that doesn’t have even basic vocabulary or understanding of some of these issues,” Temko said. “So that’s a step, is to make sure they do have that information and knowledge.”

Niemerg said SIUE’s recognition of minority group associations has helped the university’s progress towards a more inclusive environment.

“When I started working here five years ago, I felt like I was the only gay person here because I didn’t know who else was here. So it’s nice that there is a group and I know I’m not alone,” Niemerg said. “That’s what these constituency groups do. They rally support around each other, and it makes you feel like you’re more a part of the greater campus community.”

As per the campus climate survey, the LGBTQ+ community of SIUE is generally satisfied with the promotion of diversity and inclusivity on campus. That said, diversity is not a one-anddone deal. Hicks said the university must continue to work to ensure the continuity of the diversity we have today.

“We always have to work,” Hicks said. “Any marginalized community is going to continue to have to work.”

The results of the SIU system campus climate survey can be viewed online.