Are you a NASPA member? Been involved with GLBT issues in higher education? Looking for ways to step up your involvement in the profession AND the association?
The NASPA GLBT Issues Knowledge Community is now seeking nominations for the position of National Chair/Co-Chairs. Successful candidates will become Chair-Elect following the 2009 National Conference and then will take office following the 2010 National Conference and will serve a term up to the 2012 National Conference. The Knowledge Community National Chairs work to serve the collective efforts of their Knowledge Community (KC) and support the overall mission of NASPA. The NASPA Board of Directors approves the nominations of candidates who will be elected by the KC membership. The National Chairs report directly to the National Director of Knowledge Communities.
The position requires:
-Current NASPA membership - preference will be given to individuals who have demonstrated active involvement and engagement in the association.
-Knowledge of, but not necessarily functional area expertise in, issues relating to the GLBT community.
-Demonstration of strong communication skills.
-Demonstration of a strong sense of advocacy for GLBT individuals and issues.
-Provide a new way of looking at GLBT issues and services, and innovation for the delivering of the KC mission.
-Commitment from their home institution to support the KC Chair position and activities.
-Adequate time to lend to the successful completion of the position.
Nominations can be submitted for an individual or pair of individuals either by the individuals themselves, or by someone else who thinks they would make an exceptional candidate. Nominations can be for an individual knowledge community chair, or can be submitted for two people to serve as co-chairs. These nominations should include the name of the nominated individual, their institution, and the rationale for nomination. Nominations should be emailed directly to wsimpkin@barnard.edu. Following nominations, each individual will be asked to complete additional materials to accept their nomination, and for forward to the nominating committee.
Any questions may be directed to the NASPA GLBT Issues Knowledge Community Nominating Committee:
Will Simpkins, wsimpkin@barnard.edu
Carrie Kortegast, kortegas@iastate.edu
Bill Mattera, william-mattera@uiowa.edu
Steve Jacobson, sjacobson@pacific.edu
David Greene, greenedl@umkc.edu
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Call for National Chairs/Co-Chairs
Monday, September 22, 2008
Celebrate Bisexuality Day
Celebrate Bisexuality Day
September 23
History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrate_Bisexuality_Day
Resources: http://www.biresource.net
September 23
History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrate_Bisexuality_Day
Resources: http://www.biresource.net
New LGBT Center Staff
* Congratulations to New Campus LGBT Center Staff:
- Gabriel Bedard is the new Equity Advisor for Sexual Orientations & Gender Identities Access & Diversity at the University of British Columbia
- Craig Cullinane is the new Associate Director of Diversity Services providing LGBT Programs & Services at Suffolk University
- Aaron Fox is the new Assistant Program Coordinator for LGBT Resources in the Student Activities Center at The George Washington University
- Ana Guerriero is the new Coordinator of the LGBTQ Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside
- Jolie Harris is the new Assistant Director of Multicultural Affairs providing LGBT Programs and Services at Seattle University
- Deanna Hurlbert is the new Asst. Director of the Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender Resource Center at Michigan State University
- Kara Kurczeski is the new Coordinator of Women & LGBT Services for the University of Houston, Clear Lake
- Jenny Kurtz is the new Director of the Office of Diverse Community Affairs and LGB&T Concerns at Rutgers University
- Jen Louie is the new GA for LGBT Services at San Diego State University
- Lauren Mauriello is the new GA for the LGBT & Ally Program at James Madison University
- Jennifer Miracle is the new Associate Director for Intercultural Affairs / Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center at the University of Georgia
- Alison Reuschlein is the new LGBTQ Services Coordinator for DePauw University
- Emily Rokosch is the new Asst. Director of the LGBT Resource Center at UCLA
- Angela Romagnoli is the new GA for LGBT Resources at CSU San Bernardino
- Lauren Sherry is a new Asst. Director for the Spectrum Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Sydney Smith is the new Coordinator of the GLBT Resource Center at Metropolitan State University, St. Paul
- Kate Stern is the new Director of of the Queer Trans Resource Center at Bowdoin College
- Ed Warwick is the new Coordinator of the LGBT Resource Center at the University of Virginia
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Program Submission Deadline
Hello everyone!
Just a reminder, program proposals are due for the 2009 Seattle conference on September 5th!
Follow the link to the conference main page:
http://www.naspa.org/conference/index.cfm
Just a reminder, program proposals are due for the 2009 Seattle conference on September 5th!
Follow the link to the conference main page:
http://www.naspa.org/conference/index.cfm
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
NASPA's Diversity Resource Database
Check out NASPA’s Diversity Resource Database. This is a searchable database of diversity-related resources for student affairs personnel professional development, for campus-wide initiatives, and for the student-experience. The database was created through consultation with NASPA members, KCs, and staff, and includes resources by focus (e.g., African American experiences, LGBT, disability) and by resource type (e.g., book, article, working models at peer institutions).
The database is a living resource that allows the user to search for topics, as well as recommend them. If you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to examine the Diversity Resource Database.
The database is a living resource that allows the user to search for topics, as well as recommend them. If you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to examine the Diversity Resource Database.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Get excited for Boston!
Hello everyone-
Get excited for Boston! The conference is fast approaching!
I'm looking into activities to do in Boston for the KC while we'll be there. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
In addition, the KC will have a table at the NASPA Communities Gala on Monday, March 10th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in Marriott Back Bay Exhibit Hall. Be sure to stop by and visit your colleagues - or contact me to help staff the table!
~Patrick
Get excited for Boston! The conference is fast approaching!
I'm looking into activities to do in Boston for the KC while we'll be there. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
In addition, the KC will have a table at the NASPA Communities Gala on Monday, March 10th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in Marriott Back Bay Exhibit Hall. Be sure to stop by and visit your colleagues - or contact me to help staff the table!
~Patrick
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Point Foundation 2008 Scholarships
For those professionals who work with financial aid or LGBT students in need of merit-based financial aid, the Point Foundation is accepting applications until March 1, 2008. Please see below for more information.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Point Foundation Opens 2008 Application Season; New Application Cycle Begins
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Point Foundation (Point), the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students of merit, announces the opening of its 2008 application season. Students who will be enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs for the 2008-09 school year are eligible to apply for the prestigious, multi-year scholarships. The application deadline for this year's scholarships is March 1, 2008.
Point's rigorous selection process for its prestigious scholarships is highly competitive and requires demonstrated academic excellence, leadership skills, community involvement and financial need. Particular attention is paid to students who have lost the financial and social support of their families and/or communities as a result of revealing their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The selection process begins with on-line applications and concludes with face-to-face interviews with selected finalists in April. Point Regent and Selections Subcommittee Chair Shelley Fischel comments, "The application and selection process is rigorous but rewarding. To be part of this process is both a great honor and a great responsibility."
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Point Foundation Opens 2008 Application Season; New Application Cycle Begins
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Point Foundation (Point), the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students of merit, announces the opening of its 2008 application season. Students who will be enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs for the 2008-09 school year are eligible to apply for the prestigious, multi-year scholarships. The application deadline for this year's scholarships is March 1, 2008.
Point's rigorous selection process for its prestigious scholarships is highly competitive and requires demonstrated academic excellence, leadership skills, community involvement and financial need. Particular attention is paid to students who have lost the financial and social support of their families and/or communities as a result of revealing their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The selection process begins with on-line applications and concludes with face-to-face interviews with selected finalists in April. Point Regent and Selections Subcommittee Chair Shelley Fischel comments, "The application and selection process is rigorous but rewarding. To be part of this process is both a great honor and a great responsibility."
Great Article from The Observer
Provided by Will Simpkins:
From the issue dated December 21, 2007
OBSERVER
Members of the gay community on my campus occasionally ask me to show my sympathy with them by displaying a sticker on my office door that depicts the rainbow flag and says, "Safe Space." I always decline, uncomfortably suspecting that my reasons are misunderstood. This essay is my explanation, written because I suspect that others are wrestling with the same complexities that I have faced.
Human beings have the intriguing capacity to think about both survival and beauty. The difference between the way we think about the two involves the concept of interest. When our survival is involved, clearly so is our self-interest. Our political system is based on the idea that self-preservation is the only trustworthy human inclination, and we have come to distrust those who claim to support a cause with which they cannot be personally identified. Thus we find ourselves giving more credibility to cancer patients than to their doctors, or to victims of crime than to criminologists.
Beauty, however, has no immediate purpose and can thus be said to be disinterested. Students quickly explain that the passion they exhibit for music, say, originates in its capacity to transport them to another world, not to help them in this one. They find that even love, which has a component of anticipated help and is thus part of the survival arena, contains a sense of ineffable wonder on discovering what seems like an alternative universe.
It is not difficult to see why survival concerns tend to eclipse beauty concerns. First of all, notwithstanding Nietzsche, it is difficult to deny the primacy of survival, without which we could hardly pursue beauty. In addition, many survival interests are easy to identify: Racism, sexism, and homophobia are clear threats to the survival interests of the groups they target.
Higher education today is increasingly preoccupied with the survival needs of this or that group. If an academic endeavor does not have a clear and powerful interest, it is dismissed as frivolous or opiating. Art is often created not to be beautiful but to make a political statement, like the dance composition by a professor in my university's theater department that explores "the horror of wrongful conviction."
I am not so naïve as to believe that survival interests do not prevail in the world outside the university. And clearly our students deserve the tools they will need to prosper in what can be a mercenary environment. However, that does not mean that the university cannot also be a haven from the priority of survival, a place where we can celebrate disinterestedness. Indeed, I sense in my students a frustration that the university tends to replicate an environment with which they are quite familiar. In my course on aesthetics and politics, for instance, students are delighted to encounter existential challenges, not in tendentious art, but in the erotic alternatives of romanticism.
What I oppose, therefore, is not the safety of gay students, but the feeling of safety experienced byall students when they encounter the interest paradigm. A "safe space" sticker promotes a sense of comfort probably unintended by its promoters. It advertises the person displaying it as someone predisposed to a popular agenda, rather than an instigator of unusual, even unsafe, considerations.
To be sure, my concerns are less relevant for housing advisers and financial-aid officers, for instance, and I would wholeheartedly support stickers on their doors. But the job of a professor is different in two significant ways.The first is connected to the issue mentioned above: that survival has prevailed over beauty, and that survival interests are often easier to identify. In fact, we equate identity with demographic and morphological characteristics. We are much more likely to consider ourselves (or someone else) Latino, gay, or female than we are to consider ourselves Kantians, Italophiles, or Presbyterians. I think that is because our interests regarding race, gender, and sexuality are both clear and important to us from childhood.
However, we should not be satisfied when our identity is defined so narrowly. So I try not to reinforce those obvious interests for my students. Students from minority groups are often perplexed when they encounter professors of their own ethnicity who are nonetheless very different from them, or from their expectations. A Latino professor fascinated by the waltzes of Strauss represents a wonderful complication to students' concept of interest and identity.
So when students — gay or straight — enter my office, I want to represent to them an interest that they may not have encountered or contemplated. I do not want a sticker to make my already difficult mission any harder.
The second difference in a professor's job is the responsibility to expose students to disinterested projects, those that reside in the realm of the beautiful. The reason Plato banned artists from his ideal republic was not his revulsion against the beautiful, but his assertion that true politics is the pursuit of the beautiful; he did not want beauty segregated. Justice, then, in its best form, is disinterested. In fact, it is beautiful. Socrates' star pupil, Glaucon, distinguishes himself by resisting self-aggrandizement in the imaginary republic, and his nobility is reflected in my students' nagging disappointment with a university experience that does little more than sharpen their demographic sensibilities. Superficially daring, that is profoundly safe pedagogy. Beauty, which inspires the transcendence of conventions and expectations, is safe for no one.
Thus by displaying the sticker, I would be betraying my gay students, not assisting them. I would be exempting them from the disorienting but essential epiphany that neither they, nor I, can be certain of their full identity. It would also preclude our sharing those beautiful exchanges of the fanciful and transcendental. Safety is a much more complex issue in a classroom than it is in a motor vehicle, and the best classes are those in which seat belts are occasionally unbuckled.
So if a student, gay or straight, craves a safe and secure recapitulation and celebration of popular identity taxonomy, my office is not the place to visit.
Timothy J. Lukes is a professor of political science at Santa Clara University.http://chronicle.comSection: The Chronicle ReviewVolume 54, Issue 17, Page B5
From the issue dated December 21, 2007
OBSERVER
Putting Space Between Beauty and Politics
By TIMOTHY J. LUKESMembers of the gay community on my campus occasionally ask me to show my sympathy with them by displaying a sticker on my office door that depicts the rainbow flag and says, "Safe Space." I always decline, uncomfortably suspecting that my reasons are misunderstood. This essay is my explanation, written because I suspect that others are wrestling with the same complexities that I have faced.
Human beings have the intriguing capacity to think about both survival and beauty. The difference between the way we think about the two involves the concept of interest. When our survival is involved, clearly so is our self-interest. Our political system is based on the idea that self-preservation is the only trustworthy human inclination, and we have come to distrust those who claim to support a cause with which they cannot be personally identified. Thus we find ourselves giving more credibility to cancer patients than to their doctors, or to victims of crime than to criminologists.
Beauty, however, has no immediate purpose and can thus be said to be disinterested. Students quickly explain that the passion they exhibit for music, say, originates in its capacity to transport them to another world, not to help them in this one. They find that even love, which has a component of anticipated help and is thus part of the survival arena, contains a sense of ineffable wonder on discovering what seems like an alternative universe.
It is not difficult to see why survival concerns tend to eclipse beauty concerns. First of all, notwithstanding Nietzsche, it is difficult to deny the primacy of survival, without which we could hardly pursue beauty. In addition, many survival interests are easy to identify: Racism, sexism, and homophobia are clear threats to the survival interests of the groups they target.
Higher education today is increasingly preoccupied with the survival needs of this or that group. If an academic endeavor does not have a clear and powerful interest, it is dismissed as frivolous or opiating. Art is often created not to be beautiful but to make a political statement, like the dance composition by a professor in my university's theater department that explores "the horror of wrongful conviction."
I am not so naïve as to believe that survival interests do not prevail in the world outside the university. And clearly our students deserve the tools they will need to prosper in what can be a mercenary environment. However, that does not mean that the university cannot also be a haven from the priority of survival, a place where we can celebrate disinterestedness. Indeed, I sense in my students a frustration that the university tends to replicate an environment with which they are quite familiar. In my course on aesthetics and politics, for instance, students are delighted to encounter existential challenges, not in tendentious art, but in the erotic alternatives of romanticism.
What I oppose, therefore, is not the safety of gay students, but the feeling of safety experienced byall students when they encounter the interest paradigm. A "safe space" sticker promotes a sense of comfort probably unintended by its promoters. It advertises the person displaying it as someone predisposed to a popular agenda, rather than an instigator of unusual, even unsafe, considerations.
To be sure, my concerns are less relevant for housing advisers and financial-aid officers, for instance, and I would wholeheartedly support stickers on their doors. But the job of a professor is different in two significant ways.The first is connected to the issue mentioned above: that survival has prevailed over beauty, and that survival interests are often easier to identify. In fact, we equate identity with demographic and morphological characteristics. We are much more likely to consider ourselves (or someone else) Latino, gay, or female than we are to consider ourselves Kantians, Italophiles, or Presbyterians. I think that is because our interests regarding race, gender, and sexuality are both clear and important to us from childhood.
However, we should not be satisfied when our identity is defined so narrowly. So I try not to reinforce those obvious interests for my students. Students from minority groups are often perplexed when they encounter professors of their own ethnicity who are nonetheless very different from them, or from their expectations. A Latino professor fascinated by the waltzes of Strauss represents a wonderful complication to students' concept of interest and identity.
So when students — gay or straight — enter my office, I want to represent to them an interest that they may not have encountered or contemplated. I do not want a sticker to make my already difficult mission any harder.
The second difference in a professor's job is the responsibility to expose students to disinterested projects, those that reside in the realm of the beautiful. The reason Plato banned artists from his ideal republic was not his revulsion against the beautiful, but his assertion that true politics is the pursuit of the beautiful; he did not want beauty segregated. Justice, then, in its best form, is disinterested. In fact, it is beautiful. Socrates' star pupil, Glaucon, distinguishes himself by resisting self-aggrandizement in the imaginary republic, and his nobility is reflected in my students' nagging disappointment with a university experience that does little more than sharpen their demographic sensibilities. Superficially daring, that is profoundly safe pedagogy. Beauty, which inspires the transcendence of conventions and expectations, is safe for no one.
Thus by displaying the sticker, I would be betraying my gay students, not assisting them. I would be exempting them from the disorienting but essential epiphany that neither they, nor I, can be certain of their full identity. It would also preclude our sharing those beautiful exchanges of the fanciful and transcendental. Safety is a much more complex issue in a classroom than it is in a motor vehicle, and the best classes are those in which seat belts are occasionally unbuckled.
So if a student, gay or straight, craves a safe and secure recapitulation and celebration of popular identity taxonomy, my office is not the place to visit.
Timothy J. Lukes is a professor of political science at Santa Clara University.http://chronicle.comSection: The Chronicle ReviewVolume 54, Issue 17, Page B5
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