Error prevents creation of GLBT Center

Due to an error in the space management process, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) resource center will not be opening this fall.

Officials from the GLBT Leadership Council (GLC) have been meeting with administrators and have tentatively planned a short-term space to be opening within the next month.

The UGBC Senate passed a resolution in April that allocated a satellite office in McElroy to the GLC. Dean of Student Development Robert Sherwood, however, said they do not have that power.

"Anyone that wants to use space has to go through a specific process," he said. "They didn't have the authority to assign that space."

The procedure for changing the use of areas on campus is governed by the Office of Space Management.

A group must complete an Alteration and Renovation Form and have it signed by the appropriate administrators before the space change can happen. The UGBC Senate was not aware of this requirement.

Nyck Bernier, Senate member and A&S '07, co-sponsored the amendment that was passed overwhelmingly last spring.

The measure said that a resource center may reduce the risk of suicides on campus, which are two to three times more likely among gay youth, according to a 1989 study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services.

"When the University is unresponsive, it is up to UGBC to intervene. Currently the UGBC Satellite office in McElroy is only being used for storage; this space should be developed into a GLC Resource Center, giving GLBT student a safe place to go on campus," according to the amendment.

Bernier expressed skepticism at the official reasoning for not opening the resource center.

"It doesn't make sense to me. GLC is part of the UGBC; we are not separate departments. We never have to go to [the Office of Space Management] to move an office," said Bernier. "I really just think that they're trying to get out of giving them a resource center."

The GLC is a semi-autonomous branch of the UGBC. Space can be swapped within a department's assigned space, as long as the Office of Space Management is notified in writing, according to the space management Web site.

"I never even imagined that there would be such a bureaucratic process with allocating your own space," said Sasha Westerman, GLC vice president and A&S '06.

Westerman stressed that she did not blame the Senate for the procedural error, instead she applauded their efforts in taking an active role in student life.

"There was probably no way that the Senate could have known, but it was monumental that they stepped up and spoke for gay rights," she said. "This was not a malicious act; procedure wasn't followed, and it's as simple as that."

The GLC has held meetings with Assistant Dean of the Office of Student Development (ODSD) Chris Darcy, Vice President of Student Affairs Cheryl Presley, and Sherwood.

They will continue to explore alternatives and see which is the best to achieve their goals, said Westerman.

Out of the meetings has come a short-term alternative, but Westerman refused to go into details on the plan.

"At this minute, we just want to make sure that everything goes through," she said.

When the measure originally passed in the Senate, Sherwood offered a disparate view on the ability of the UGBC to internally allocate space.

Both Darcy and Presley refused to comment.