Educators Discuss Creating an Inclusive Environment for LGBTQ Students - Higher Education

Educators Discuss Creating an Inclusive Environment for LGBTQ Students - Higher Education:

Educators Discuss Creating an Inclusive Environment for LGBTQ Students

by cmaadmin

Dr. Molly Merryman fought for an LGBTQ student center at Kent State University.

SAN FRANCISCO—While serving on a search committee for a new vice president for diversity and inclusion at Kent State University, Dr. Molly Merryman began inquiring about the absence of campus space set aside for gay and lesbian students. After all, students of color already had designated spaces and centers.
Before long, a university official offered Merryman an unused room for an LGBTQ student center that was established in 2010.
“We agreed that I would find a way to staff the center and allow the new vice president to take credit for it as her first new initiative,” Merryman said. “By gifting the center to this vice president, we utilized the existing transition at Kent State to get something important done.”
Merryman’s remarks came last week during the annual summer institute, “Expanding the Circle: Creating an Inclusive Environment in Higher Education for LGBTQ Students and Studies.” Educators from more than 60