The Mercury 8/21/17 by The Mercury

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August 21, 2017

Acknowledging the problems, recognizing the

Progress

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Student reflects on campus attitude toward LGBTQ community STORY BY : RUTH VARGHESE | NEWS EDITOR PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY : CHAD AUSTIN | GRAPHICS EDITOR The tension in Emmett Orton’s voice heightened as he explained his experiences as an LGBT student at UTD. One evening, Orton, a psychology junior, was in the parking lot behind Hoblitzelle Hall when a man approached him and tried to talk to him. Orton got in his car and left without responding because he got nervous, and while driving home, he noticed a car following him. After an hour of driving all the way to another city and in circles to lose the car, the person following him finally gave up and left. Orton said he doesn’t

→ SEE PRIDE, PAGE 20

Psychology junior Emmett Orton discusses his experience at UTD while reflecting on the Campus Pride Index score and what it means to him.

Art Barn classes relocated to new building Art equipment, classes move to Research Operations Center West while new gallery currently under construction at Synergy Park North 2 VALERIE PEREZ Mercury Staff

After the demolition of the Art Barn, students were concerned about the existence and location of the printmaking and sculpture classes. Art students need the university to continue to offer these two classes in order to complete their graduation plan. Classes have been relocated to Research and Operations Center West and Synergy Park North 2. The old art equipment also was saved and then relocated to ROC West. Arts and performances senior, Victoria Brill, said she is content with the two relocations and relieved that no classes will be missed for the upcoming year. “It’s relieving knowing that we at least get the basics of what we had before, but the only upsetting part is that it is splitting us up,” she said. “We had our station in the middle of campus, but now we’re spread apart. I think that’s what bothers most people, we basically got kicked off campus and won’t be able to collaborate our artwork.” Dennis Kratz, dean of arts and humanities, said he agrees with Brill that the two relocations cause a loss in community for art students, but hopes the university will make accommodations in the future. “I agree that the loss of a communal space hurts collaboration and is a reason why we are urging the university to plan for a large communal Creative Laboratory,” Kratz said.

Rick Dempsey, associate vice president of facilities management, said there will be a 6,000 square foot space devoted to 3D art in ROC West. There are two studios and one classroom and prep area. The arts department also purchased new equipment this past summer. Michele Hanlon, associate dean for the arts and humanities, said she is excited about the new art equipment and art space for the students. “The new equipment that has been provided are painting supplies and a state of the art dust collection unit.” she said. “The new space has a dedicated sculpture studio, printmaking studio and darkroom, workshop and tool storage. The facility is being created from the ground up, so counters, sinks, storage will be new to the space.” Originally, facilities management wanted to add printmaking and sculpture classes to the art wing of ATEC, but the plan wasn’t able to go through because of funding. The building didn’t have space to hold the art classes, forcing facilities management to find space for them elsewhere. A gallery function called Synergy Park North 2 is currently under construction and will be an attachment to Synergy Park North. The gallery is expected to be ready for use after the next two weeks. As far as space, it is at least a quarter larger than what was provided before. These two relocations are longterm temporary spaces for the art and

NOAH WHITEHEAD | MERCURY STAFF

After the Art Barn’s demolition in July, classes and equipment were relocated to ROC West which is located across Waterview Parkway.

humanities students. They will only be in use for the next couple of years while the university creates plans for a new art building in the near future. Kratz said he was also concerned about the students possibly missing out on printmaking or sculpture classes,

but appreciates the two relocations and the building’s ability to be more secure. “It was a very eventful summer. There will be no classes missed,” Kratz said. “We ended up with the best scenario we could hope for immediately … (ROC West is) going to be secure, something

we were never able to do with the Art Barn. I’m very pleased by it.” Students enrolled in printmaking or sculpture classes will still have secure access to the building. They will be able to enter by scanning their Comet cards.

Students attend rally against white supremacy

→ PHOTOS, PAGE 3

THE MERCURY UTDMERCURY.COM Volume XXXVIII No. 13 Editor-in-Chief Miriam Percival

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NEWS

UTDPD Blotter Aug. 2 • At 4:15 p.m., an unknown person stole two cell phones from an ATEC lab. Aug. 2 • At 10:52 p.m., police arrested two unaffiliated males for marijuana and drug paraphernilia possession on Synergy Park Blvd.

A B D

Aug. 4 •At 9:06 a.m., an unknown person stole a parking boot from Phase 1.

Aug. 11 • At 6:13 p.m., an unknown person stole a bike and bike lock at the Physics Building.

Aug. 11 • At 10:50 p.m., two students recieved citations for possession of alcohol at Phase 1.

Sports Editor Summer LeBel

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Life & Arts Editor Bhargav Arimilli life@utdmercury.com

Web Editor Bharat Arimilli

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LEGEND Contributors EJ Chong Saumya Jagata Shelbye Karr Sam Lopez Anthony McNair Valerie Perez Bianca Del Rio Ian Seamans Meha Srivastav Matt Strack Dev Thimmisetty Noah Whitehead

Media Adviser Chad Thomas

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The Mercury is published on Mondays, at two-week intervals during the long term of The University of Texas at Dallas, except holidays and exam periods, and once every four weeks during the summer term. Advertising is accepted by The Mercury on the basis that there is no discrimination by the advertiser in the offering of goods or services to any person, on any basis prohibited by applicable law. The publication of advertising in The Mercury does not constitute an endorsement of products or services by the newspaper, or the UTD administration. Opinions expressed in The Mercury are those of the editor, the editorial board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily the view of the UTD administration, the Board of Regents or the Student Media Operating Board. The Mercury’s editors retain the right to refuse or edit any submission based on libel, malice, spelling, grammar and style, and violations of Section 54.23 (f ) (1-6) of UTD policy. Copyright © 2017, The University of Texas at Dallas. All articles, photographs and graphic assets, whether in print or online, may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without express written permission.

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VEHICULAR INCIDENT

THEFT

DRUGS & ALCOHOL OTHER MAP: UTD | COURTESY

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Dallas Rally

Students gather in response to events in Charlottesville, VA

UTD students attended the Dallas Against White Supremacy rally on August 19 in response to the events in Charlottesville, VA. More than 100 protesters were ushered out of the Dallas Cemetary after clashing over a confederate monument. Among groups who attended were Texas Rising, a political activist organization on campus. VALERIE PEREZ | MERCURY STAFF

Power outages cause UV’s reversion to TWC Series of thunderstorms result in damaged internet access points, need for more reliable provider on campus DEV THIMMISETTY Mercury Staff

Two different providers will deliver internet services to UTD’s residential areas. Canyon Creek Heights and University Commons will continue to provide CometNet/TemocNet, but University Village will shift back to Time Warner, now known as Spectrum. This also means that routers, wireless printers and TV streaming devices are no longer banned in UV as it is in UC and the new housing, at least for the time being. In July, the access points installed in the university apartments malfunctioned due to thunderstorm activity. In order to provide stability to students, the Office of Information Technology and university housing contacted Spectrum to provide internet and cable services until the university feels it can provide its own internet seamlessly. The associate vice president of the OIT, Brian Dourty, was critical in implementing the change. “We want to ensure that our students have connectivity, and until we have the confidence to provide that reliably, we will be using Spectrum,” Dourty said. However, Dourty said Spectrum had its own issues as well because with the service, students who excessively use the internet can diminish the speeds of others. “I think that the poor performance that we’ve had with Spectrum in the past has to do with this,” he said. Dourty said he would like for two steps to be completed before implementing CometNet again. First, OIT is planning to collaborate with Cisco, the supplier of the access points, to find a solution to making the access points functional, even in rough weather. Next, University Vil-

lage needs to finish its project to improve the apartments’ electrical systems. “We have some work that is set to take place that is supposed to help increase the reliability of the electrical system,” he said. “This won’t be done till the end of August or early September.” As for the access points themselves, Cisco’s reports should be coming in the first week of school, Dourty said. Right now, only 10 access points are offline out of the 2,403 installed in all the residential areas. The rest are back up and functional. “We are likely going to leave (the access points) up and functioning,” Dourty said. “This is more so that we can monitor that and make sure it will function as it was designed.” Students in UV will have Spectrum services available to them while the issues with CometNet in the apartments are being fixed. Matt Grief, associate vice president for student affairs, indicated that students would be able to use personal routers, wireless printers and streaming devices with Spectrum. Currently, with CometNet, these machines are not allowed because they use device-to-device communication, which is considered a security risk to the university network. “We can’t do the same as Spectrum because we are providing a unified, university-managed network,” Dourty said. “We are responsible for maintaining the security of the entire network. Spectrum is treating each residence as its own subunit.” Students, such as computer science sophomore Seth Giovanetti, are not pleased with this ban. Giovanetti even went so far as to send an email to OIT regarding his frustrations. He said he understands the security concerns that arise

with a unified campus internet, but he wishes it could be handled differently. “I think that if UTD really invests in its network infrastructure, it would be far superior to Time Warner Cable,” he said. “I think the university has the resources to do this right.” Student Government President JW Van Der Schans said he hasn’t had any students come to SG with concerns about the internet. Van Der Schans said he personally believes that the security of students should be prioritized above all, but he understands the viewpoint of students who are displeased. “Obviously people have spent a decent amount of money on their routers and devices, and it becomes a difficult situation when those are rendered obsolete,” he said. “However, money and cost are extremely tangible things, and safety or security are not as tangible, even if they are important as well.” Van Der Schans said students come to him with complaints about the slow internet with Time Warner, so he favored the move to campus internet services. “When they talked about it, they had our green light as students because they said the internet was going to be better, which is always preferable,” he said. Brian Dourty said the university’s own services control more variables, including security and the amount of bandwidth each student can access. “In an ideal world, we would be able to segment the internet like Spectrum does,” he said. “But at that point, the responsibility for security is back to the student. They are only dependent on how secure the router is. We are trying to provide a higher quality service to our students.” SAM LOPEZ | MERCURY STAFF

LEGISLATIVE SESSION RECAP

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Students react to transgender military ban LGBTQ students share thoughts about President Trump’s tweets, bridging gap between personal identity, military service

SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR

Psychology senior Samantha Vokey (left), Ph.D. candidate Peng Peng Zheng and neuroscience sophomore Red Ellisor share their reactions to the proposed ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. MEHA SRIVASTAV Mercury Staff

At the age of 16, Peng Peng Zheng, like any other male about to graduate from high school in Singapore, registered for the military. The problem for Zheng was that she privately identified as female. In Zheng’s home country, enlistment in the National Service is a requirement for all male able-bodied citizens and second-generation permanent residents. Singapore is one of 177 countries in the world that do not allow transgender people to serve openly in the military. On July 26, in a series of three tweets, President Donald Trump suggested that the U.S. would become one of these countries. “I was surprised and yet not surprised, because it came from Trump,” Zheng, now a Ph.D. candidate at UTD, said. “The remarks felt insensitive, especially as someone who has served in the military.”

Trump’s tweet stated “tremendous we make public policy now as a counmedical costs and disruption” as the try. It’s politically horrifying.” Zheng said serving in the Singapore reason for the ban of all transgender military personnel. However, a 2016 military as a closeted transgender female meant a “suppression” of study by the RAND her “true identity.” corporation — a nonThose suffer“I was performing profit policy think tank really badly as a soldier, — showed that including from more and if I came out as a ing transgender people dysphoria, with transgender woman, it in the military would the stress that would give more leeway result in a minor infor my superiors to crease of 0.04 to 0.13 the military bully me,” Zheng said. percent in healthcare brings them, “Throughout the service, expenditure. there was a continuous Samantha Vokey, psycan become emphasis that you have chology senior and a suicidal. to be a man to protect transgender female, said your family. The first felt “astonished” when — Peng Peng Zheng, thing they do to you in she first saw the tweets Ph.D. candidate the military is shave your from the president. head. As a female, you “Our president didn’t feel humiliation. Your make an argument, and that’s my biggest frustration with this superiors want you to look less like a issue,” Vokey said. “An issue should at female and more like a courageous male.” Gender dysphoria and the pressure to least have substance, and he made this issue with three tweets. But that’s how assimilate in a male-dominated military

factored into Zheng’s poor mental health. “All these ideas are inconsistent with (transgender females) on the inside,” Zheng said. “But in the military you’re expected to not complain. You’re expected to overcome hardships and face things yourself. Those suffering from more dysphoria, with the stress that the military brings them, can become suicidal.” Red Ellisor, a neuroscience sophomore who identifies as genderqueer, voiced her concerns about the future of the transgender community. “It’s really troubling for me that my brother, who is transgender, is going to grow up and deal with people and lawmakers telling him he’s not allowed to be who he is, just because other people are afraid of what he might do — not what he has done,” Ellisor said. As more policies such as the transgender ban are potentially being established, Vokey and Ellisor said they have experienced or observed increasing discrimination in Texas since Trump’s election. “I have had people tell me that my

family is exercising child abuse by letting my brother be who he is,” Ellisor said. “I’ve had people tell me that we’re mentally ill because of who we think we are.” With official policy yet to be established by the Trump administration, it is unclear what is to happen for transgender individuals serving in the military — however, with the prospects of a transgender ban, issues related to the LGBT community appear palpable. “I knew that those kind of views existed, but never before have I seen people so willing to put them out there,” Ellisor said. “Prior to this administration, people just kind of kept things to themselves. Now it feels like everyone hates everyone all the time, and it’s just exhausting.” Ellisor said she felt like she will have to be less open about LGBT issues. “I’m worried that I’m going to have to be more hush-hush and go back to the time I was before when I pretended to be someone I wasn’t. I’m worried that I’ll be able to pass as cisgender and heterosexual, and I’ll be safe but not comfortable,” she said.

“Logan Lucky” could be summer classic Despite diversity shortcomings, heist comedy impresses with light-hearted dialogue, well-developed characters IAN SEAMANS COMMENTARY

IMDB | COURTESY

“Logan Lucky” was released in the United States on Aug. 18 and features Channing Tatum as Jimmy.

“Logan Lucky” is a feel-good, comedic story that never tries its hand at drama. Set in West Virginia, the movie follows the story of Jimmy (Channing Tatum) and Clyde Logan (Adam Driver), two brothers barely making ends meet. Jimmy has a bum knee preventing him from getting work,

and Clyde only has one arm after two tours in Iraq. After losing his job and finding out that his ex-wife is taking his daughter far away, Jimmy hatches a plan to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway so he can move to be closer to his daughter. The movie is goofy, fun and I could see it become a cult classic. The fun of “Logan Lucky” is in watching the Rube Goldberg-like plan, the love between a father and a daughter and the comedy created by character interactions. The film does exactly what it sets out to achieve, and it’s great to

see the actors having fun while they’re in character. The leading cast are excellent in their roles. Tatum, Driver and Daniel Craig all play characters unlike the ones they’ve previously been known for. Tatum plays a well-developed and emotionally-driven character, Driver nails the understated comedy of Clyde Logan and Craig plays a hillbilly explosives expert named Joe Bang. Although the acting and writing is great, the cinematography is just okay. There aren’t any particularly standout

shots, and there are several cuts that could’ve been cleaner. I wasn’t particularly a fan of the dialogue of the previous scene carrying over onto a new scene using a sharp cut. It felt a little disjointed, but it doesn’t affect the watchability of the movie. Interscene cuts with dialogue were done well, and I never felt lost in the space of a conversation. During some of the conversations in the movie, I ended up thinking about the movie’s representation.

→ SEE LOGAN LUCKY, PAGE 7

Network reduces campus food waste Campus group recovers meals from dining outlets, donates to women’s shelter SAUMYA JAGATA Mercury Staff

The Food Recovery Network is a student-led movement against hunger, aiming to transform food waste to food recovery. They recover excess food across communities and donate them to people who are deprived of nutritional food. The national organization is spread across 44 states and D.C., operating through nearly 230 student chapters across U.S. universities. At UTD, the Food Recovery Network is affiliated with the Sustainability Club, and they have volunteers to pick up food from dining locations at UTD and deliver it to Hope’s Door, a nonprofit organization in Plano. Since its inception in 2016, the FRN donated nearly 960 pounds of food, equivalent to 1,280 meals, collected

from dining areas across the university. forward an idea to implement food reMathematics senior Matthew Salm covery at Chartwells in October 2015. After a series of is the founder of meetings and draftthe FRN at UTD. ing proposals, the He had prior expePut less food on idea was approved. rience in working your plate and you “Just the recognion sustainability will probably end up tion that waste exprojects as an intern isted and we should at UTD’s Office of wasting less and that try to redirect to Sustainability. ends up being good the people we can,” In 2015, ChartSalm said. “Put less wells, UTD’s dinfor the enivronment food on your plate ing service provider, and for the people. and you will probagreed to Salm’s idea of putting down — Matthew Salm, ably end up wasting less and that ends food wastage facts mathematics senior up being good for on every paper napthe environment kin in the dining and for the people.” hall as a part of the Psychology junior and president of the Office of Sustainability. Salm said this would raise student awareness of the Sustainability Club Kiara Dandridge, amount of food wasted. Salm later put heads the FRN and has been involved

SAHER AQEEL | PHOTO EDITOR

The UTD chapter of the national Food Recovery Network raises awareness by posting facts and figures about food waste on the walls of Dining Hall West and on paper napkins. The group was established in 2016.

with the organization for three semesters. “We started with recovering food from Einstein’s Bagels on campus and Dining Hall West, and at the beginning of the past academic year, we expanded to the Student Union,” Dandridge said. “Occasionally, we also recover food from Chartwells’ catering off campus.”

According to a The Guardian report released in July 2016, 50 percent of all produce in the U.S. is thrown away. “It is important for people to try not to contribute to this statistic,” Dandridge said, referring to The Guardian’s report. Dandridge herself has delivered food

→ SEE RECOVERY, PAGE 7

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The cast is almost entirely white, which isn’t entirely surprising as it often plays off of redneck stereotypes. What’s particularly bothersome is that the only black character is a side character who is an inmate at a local jail, the movie

→ RECOVERY

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from campus to the nonprofit several times. “I feel like it gives me an opportunity to work directly for something I care about,” she said. “From the environmental aspect to the human compassion aspect, it is a great way to directly impact my community.” The food delivered by FRN reach-

LIFE&ARTS

doesn’t seem to pass the Bechdel test and the adult female character we see the most has little dialogue or self-motivated actions. This movie could’ve easily fixed both of these things, but I doubt it was ever questioned. “Logan Lucky” is a fun movie. I’d recommend for people to see it if they have time, though I don’t

think it’s necessary to see in a theater. The actors seem to be really having fun in their roles, and it was nice to see them break out of their typical character archetypes. It’s a great movie for the dog days of summer.

es individuals and families sheltered at Hope’s Door. This nonprofit organization runs a 90-day program for those in danger, mostly women and children who are affected by family violence and need shelter. Melanie O’Brien, director of community relations at Hope’s Door, mentioned the FRN has helped out over 500 individuals. “Not only is it helping to feed and sustain them in a healthy way, but it is also

educating them in what is healthy for them. It also saves them time, if they have jobs and get home, they don’t have time to make a healthy meal for their families. It is a great example of sustainability,” O’Brien said. “Students at UTD really care about the community and making a difference, and it is great to see that altruistic nature in college students.”

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New to Campus Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center

PHOTOS BY RUTH VARGHESE | NEWS EDITOR

Canyon Creek Heights Apartments PHOTOS BY NOAH WHITEHEAD | MERCURY STAFF

Canyon Creek Heights is the newest section of student living built on campus. The ï¬&#x201A;oor plans vary from four people sharing two rooms to single bedrooms.

The Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center is the newest building open on campus. With 30,000 square feet it features a ballroom, conference center and meeting rooms. The ribbon cutting ceremony and outdoor concert will be on Sept. 7.

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AUG. 21, 2017 | THE MERCURY

COMICS&GAMES

ANTHONY MCNAIR | MERCURY STAFFF

STRANGER DANGER

THE ORIGIN OF TEMOC

SUFFERING

SOLAR TECLIPSE

EJ CHONG | MERCURY STAFF

ANTHONY MCNAIR | MERCURY STAFF

BIANCA DEL RIO | MERCURY STAFF

ANTHONY MCNAIR | MERCURY STAFF

MATT STRACK | MERCURY STAFF

OPINION

AUG. 21, 2017 | THE MERCURY | UTDMERCURY.COM

Tuition increase benefits university services

University uses tuition for different services to keep UTD competitive against other top tier universities in nation VALERIE PEREZ COMMENTARY

This year’s increased tuition prices aren’t as bad as you think, as the university is allocating the extra funds towards advising, counseling and student support programs. Resident undergraduate tuition increase is $510, and non-resident undergraduate increase is $424. These prices are expensive for college undergrads, who are probably only working part-time while they are in school. However, this is not a waste of money because the funds are going towards their student support programs anyway. Luckily, the UT system has a fixed tuition rate, allowing tuition costs to remain the same for everyone already accepted or enrolled in the university. Once you are admitted and registered for classes, tuition remains the same for the next twelve semesters according to the UTD Guaranteed Tuition Plan. This increase will not affect students already enrolled, despite their classification. The fixed tuition is extremely helpful for everyone currently attending because it guarantees graduating with less debt. It allows the university to upgrade advising and counseling. Most importantly, the funds are also going towards the student support programs. If you are already enrolled for this year and are not new to the UTD community, this tuition increase will not affect your yearly finances. It’s unlikely to find another university system in the state with a fixed or locked-in tuition plan because the only other public university in Texas with fixed tuition upon

enrollment is Texas A&M University. Not only does this plan guarantee that you get your money’s worth and more out of their undergraduate education, but it also enables you to graduate with less debt. Increasing tuition is beneficial for every student and a positive change for UTD because it allows for more efficient programming for incoming freshmen and the rest of the undergraduates. It works in greater favor for everyone who was enrolled before this price increase because they don’t have to pay anything for this programming update. Anyone in the Fast Track program also receives a greater benefit because they’re still able to partake in this upgraded undergraduate student programming while taking graduate-level courses. The Fast Track program allows students to take 15 credit hours of approved graduate courses to get a jump start on their master’s degree while still being an undergraduate. If you continue your education at UTD, either as a Fast Track or regular graduate student, you will be even more prepared because of the better-funded and targeted advising provided by this tuition increase. According to Ranker, a digital media company for crowdsourced rankings, UTD is ranked 44 for the cheapest in and out-of-state tuition for all universities in Texas, not including community colleges or technical schools. The tuition increase will not affect this ranking, since the 45th school, Paul Quinn College, costs $1,168 more than UTD. UT System Chancellor William H. McRaven told Regents that a modest tuition increase was necessary to keep UT institutions competitive for student success. “The fact is most of our tuition and fees are at or well below the national level. Tuition and fees are the single greatest driver

COMET COMMENTS

CAROLINA ALVAREZ | MERCURY STAFF

in revenue, which improves the quality of our schools. However, we remain sensitive to the financial challenges for students and their families, and we carefully consider their perspective when we make these recommendations,” he said to the UT System Board of Regents during a proposal meeting. Compared to colleges and universities in the nation, the University of California system has five campuses ranked in the top 50 according to the U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 National Universities. If UTD wants you to be successful and to stay competitive, it needs this tuition increase and programming update because UTD was

ranked 140 in this report, while UT Austin was ranked 52. These numbers are still impressive considering there are 1,652 public universities and colleges in the United States. If McRaven and the Board of Regents don’t focus on this change, then it might lower UTD’s ranking, not allowing us to catch up with UT’s or attempting to stay competitive with the California universities. The tuition increase might seem financially stressful at first, but in the end, it benefits everyone and will not affect future finances for the upcoming semesters. As a result, this will keep the university’s student success competitive, especially with

other universities that are already ranked higher. Next time you look at tuition prices, be at ease because this will not affect students that are already enrolled and will only help you graduate faster, and with less debt. As students, we can help make our campus curriculum and student programs progress by giving the university feedback. This will inform the university about possible changes for the programming, from our perspective, so they know the difference between what actually works and what does not work. They will put the money that goes towards this tuition increase into better use.

In light of current events, such as what happened in Charlottesville Virginia, how do you feel about race relations on campus?

Pedro Brea Physics Junior

Jorge Fuentes ATEC Junior

“In my two years here, outside political events have never really had a big effect on how we get along as a community, and I don’t think that these events will shake that at all.”

“I would say that UT Dallas is a community, and that the political climate will never affect the unity that we as a college have.”

Jules Rosen EMAC Sophomore

Michelle Onouha Biology Junior

Ralph Aguila Literature Junior

“I feel our campus “I feel like more “I feel like it’s a douis pretty diverse, and could have been ble-edged sword. I haven’t seen any done ... we need to It’s both weakened open hatred, but I do more targeting us, but at the same feel that in general, those specific things time strengthened clearly things need as a campus or as a us ... because we are to change because university to address a majority minority things aren’t where these issues and have school, and since we they should be.” a space altogether are all minorities, we where everyone can kind of just get it.” say how they feel about it.”

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know for sure if it was the same man who tried to talk to him earlier, but he assumed it was. “I don’t know why he picked me,” he said. “I don’t know if he would’ve picked someone else that was similar to me, but I think he sensed that I was vulnerable because I am who I am and that kind of seeps out of me whether I want it to or not.” Even though Orton is not sure why he was followed, he said the incident reflects the hidden dangers on campus, despite the safe atmosphere. Another instance where Orton felt the lurking intolerance was when a professor refused to change Orton’s name on the roster to his preferred name, despite his requests. Orton, who identifies as a non-binary and transgender man, filed a Title IX violation in order for the professor to change the name. “It was very stressful getting through the rest of that class after I had

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complained to Title IX because she was school. Part of the reason he chose UTD is because of the Campus Pride unhappy,” he said. This was one of the instances in which Index, an online service students Orton discovered that people slip under the can look at to see different LGBTQ surface of UTD’s welcoming environment. friendly campuses. In May 2017, “I suppose it makes UTD moved from sense that wherever a 3.5 to a 4.5 out of queers gather, there Being LGBT and 5-star rating on the are people who hate being forced to be Campus Pride Index. queers. Nowhere is The Index considers safe,” he said. around however eight different Orton uses an many unknown categories, each with example of how, a list of criteria, and variables is really although Seattle based on how many ranks high in the frightening of the criteria are LGBT population, it met, each campus is also ranks high with — Emmett Orton, given a ranking. LGBT murders. He psychology junior Matthew Johns, said discrimination assistant director of is even higher with LGBT programs at LGBT students who the Galerstein Gender Center, met are different ethnicities and religions. “When you’re at the intersection with different UTD departments to of lots of different identities, lots of assist in meeting different criteria. He worked with the housing department different people hate you,” he said. Although Orton said he is still to achieve gender inclusive housing, nervous about “being out,” he would as well as the counseling and health rather be at UTD than any other services on campus for trans-inclusive

UTDMERCURY.COM student health insurance. Housing and the counseling services helped meet the remaining criteria in the LGBTQ Housing and Residential Life and LGBTQ Counseling and Health categories, which he said he believed is a big reason for the extra point on the Index. “No matter what campus you go to, you’re going to run into all different types of people,” Johns said. “So just because we have a 4.5 out of 5-star doesn’t mean that we’re (a) perfect university when it comes to LGBT inclusion. But I know, just by walking across this campus and having different events such as National Coming Out Day, the vibe here on campus is so inclusive and it’s different than a lot of universities.” Because Orton lives at home, he never had to experience the former housing situation at UTD. “Being LGBT and being forced to be around however many unknown variables is really frightening, especially coming straight out of a homophobic environment,” he said. Workers at the Galerstein Gender

Center assisted in helping meet different criteria for the Index. Senior literary studies major Zackary Gentry started the LGBT alumni organization to earn points in the LGBTQ Support and Institutional Commitment category. While uncertain of whether he checked the Index before he enrolled at UTD, Gentry reached out to other students to ask about the campus’ culture. “You can have lots of things on the Campus Pride Index and then maybe the culture can be different,” Gentry said. “It was really nice to see that people were saying the culture is reflective of the Campus Pride Index score.” Although the Index indicates that people support LGBT culture, for Emmett Orton, it shows that the majority of a demographic can easily mask the minority, “allow(ing) bigots to hide.” “It’s a mixed bag,” he said. “If you come here and you’re not out and you see all these people, this diverse gender spectrum, lots of different gay and lesbian people, that’s really validating, and it’s comforting. But at the same time, you know that makes you visible.”