Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Campus Center Director Eric Trekell and Dean of Students Lori Berquam hosted a listening session for the UW-Madison community, students, faculty and staff Tuesday.
The forum addressed the many services provided by the LGBT Campus Center and solicited input to improve the center, as well as the overall LGBT experience at UW-Madison.
Students spoke out in concern regarding the hostility they said that they experienced on campus for openly identifying themselves as LGBT.
One student referenced incidents where some professors and teaching assistants had run classroom exercises without regard to the presence of LGBT members. In one such instance, the professor had made a blanket statement about homosexuality, only to catch himself, telling the class, ""It is Madison, you know,"" according to the student.
Sean Aukland, who has worked for three years within university housing, said it was possible for resident assistants in the dormitories to opt out of LGBT sensitivity trainings.
""That is extremely problematic because it makes that training choice-based,"" he said.
He said he saw several cases in recent years where LGBT residents left housing because of a hostile living environment.
""We had just recently in one of our residence halls a student who left and terminated his housing contract because he was being specifically targeted,"" he said.
Berquam said the university is concerned about these issues, and the LGBT Campus Center is a resource available to all LGBT students and allies on campus.
""The LGBT Campus Center is available for any student looking for support and community on campus,"" Berquam said. ""It is here for you.""
According to Trekell, the center provides support sources to LGBT students, including mentorship and social activities, as well as educational programming aimed at LGBT and non-LGBT students.
As part of its outreach, the LGBT center also regularly sends speakers to student organizations and classrooms and offers a space for meetings and discussion.
