Running head: The Importance of Equality

The Importance of Equality: Group Foundations, Campus Culture, and the Roles and
Responsibility of Higher Education Administrators
Allison M. Schipma
Loyola University Chicago

The Importance of Equality

The Importance of Equality: Group Foundations, Campus Culture, and the Roles and
Responsibility of Higher Education Administrators
Since the foundation of higher education institutions, there has always been one goal.
That goal was to serve and develop students that would take what they learned at that institution
and go out and serve the world. Within higher education, however, there have also been different
forms of oppression. This oppression stems from discrimination that was established before the
institutions were, and this oppression changed over the years. While higher education institutions
work for the students, it is important to remember that they serve the students according to
cultures of the society in which they are grounded. Higher education institutions across the
nation have deep rooted traditions and values, and a lot of those roots stem from different forms
of oppression and discrimination of the time in which they were founded.
There has been a lot of focus on womens rights, students of color, and how those
oppressed groups overcame and broke the discriminative culture of their time. This narrative
will explore the development of the first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer
(LGBTQ) groups founded at Columbia University and Cornell University in New York. This
narrative will also focus on the ways in which LGBTQ students were oppressed. This narrative
will also touch on how to break the current systems of oppression that our students may still face
within our higher education institutions today. These may not be overt systems of oppression, but
more so opportunities for educational programming that we as educators can supply. Finally, this
narrative will focus on the role that administrators have within the process of social justice
change and how we as higher education professionals can prepare ourselves to help serve our
students more efficiently. All of the articles will stay in the timeframe of 1965-2004.

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I decided to choose this topic to research because of how unfamiliar I am with it, and
because of my past experiences. I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian Reformed household,
church, and school. To me, identifying with the LGBTQ community meant that you were going
to spend the time after you died in Hell to pay for this sin. In my senior year of high school, I
wrote a 25 page paper in my Religion class about how wrong homosexuality was and how by
granting them equality we would be ruining society as we know it. Once I entered college,
through relationships, open dialogues, and further research about members of that community I
was slowly transformed. By choosing this topic, I am accomplishing what has become a long
term personal and professional goal of mine. The goal that I am accomplishing is making me
more aware of students that I will interact with that identify within this community. By doing
this, I am hoping I will be able to notice trends and programming techniques that will allow me
to serve them more adequately.
The Articles Reviewed
The first article that I read was Beemyns (2003) The Silence Is Broken: A History of the
First Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Student Groups. Beemyns (2003) article went in depth about
the 1968 formation of the Student Homophile League on both the campuses of Columbia
University and Cornell University in New York. Beemyns (2003) article also touches on the
trials and tribulations that came about with forging a new path and starting a new LGBTQ
supportive organization on those campuses. Beemyns (2003) article also touches on the role the
administration played with the setbacks and successes of forming this group and the changes
within the campus culture at those universities and the important long lasting effect after the
groups were formed.

The Importance of Equality

The second article that I read was dEmilios (1990) article The Campus Environment
for Gay and Lesbian Life. dEmilios (1990) article went in depth about a couple of different
topics. DEmilio (1990) talked about the students thoughts and feelings about homosexuality
within the campus cultures in 1990. Within dEmilios (1990) writings, he also reflects on what
he thinks needs to be done in order to remedy the students feeling and thoughts. This reflection
ranges from focusing on groups of students to target with programming, to what type of
programming would work, and finally how to go about implementing this program within higher
education institutions everywhere. DEmilios (1990) article also talks about the role that higher
education administrators have and the responsibility they have to correct negativity within their
own campus culture.
The third piece of writing I used was a piece by Brown, Clarke, Gortmaker, and
Robinson-Keiligs (2004) Assessing the Campus Climate for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and
Transgender Students Using a Multiple Perspectives Approach. This article had more of a
research based to focus on where the higher education system was in relation to the LGBTQ
campus culture in 2004. By surveying a select sample of students, faculty, and staff Brown,
Clarke, Gortmaker, and Robinson-Keiligs (2004) went in depth and drew conclusions on which
programs proceed to be more effective and which students should be targeted with these types of
programming. They also researched the effect that higher education staff and administration
involvement in LGBTQ equality programs have on students and their comfort level with campus
culture.
Common Themes
Throughout the reading of each of the articles I selected, I noticed three common themes
of how each article relates to each other and how they all connect. The first theme that I noticed

The Importance of Equality

was the importance of the role of administration and the effects of the administrations reactions
and decisions in regards to the foundation of LGTBQ supportive groups. There also was a
common theme of recognition within the articles. This recognition is of the need for change
within the campus cultures at the varying institutions. From establishing groups, to
programming, to intentionally reaching out to certain student types- each article relates back to
recognizing the need for change on their campus. Finally, the articles briefly mentioned
techniques on how to implement the change that was needed on their respective campuses, and
possible ideas on other ways to implement that change.
Role of Administration
When starting to implement change within a university, there is a hierarchy and power
structure that you need to maneuver through. In each of these articles, the administration came
into the success and downfalls of certain aspects of the move towards equality and comfort for
LGBTQ students on college campuses. According to Beemyn (2003) the first LGBTQ supportive
student group was formed in 1965 by Stephen Donaldson. (p. 206) Donaldson got his start at
Columbia University and was the first openly bisexual on campus at the time, and he had faced
some trials after coming out. (Beemyn, 2003, p.206) Donaldson after experiencing setbacks from
being bisexual had decided that he wanted to start a chapter of the Student Homophile League at
Columbia University. The administrators of Columbia seemed to want to deter Donaldson from
having this group formed. There were a certain set of rules of Columbia that mandated a list of
the founding members of the group, and since those interested in help form the group werent
ready to come out to the campus- Donaldson was forced to have the meetings underground.
(Beemyn, 2003, p. 210) The administrators also made it particularly hard on the Student
Homophile League because they stated the following about the group by limiting their social

The Importance of Equality

functions. Beemyn (2003) quoted it was forbidden to serve a social function for fear that this
would lead to violations of New York States sodomy laws. (p. 207)
In the later articles you can see a shift within the administration from 1965 to 1990. After
many civil rights movements and all that was completed from those, administrators at a later
time started to be more receptive to the change that needed to occur. In the second article I read
John DEmilio (1990) stated For reasons that I cannot quite fathom, I still expect the academy
to embrace higher standards of civility, decency, and justice than the society around it. (p. 18) as
an administrator, DEmilio was stating that there needed to be a higher standard of social justice
within higher education. Other aspects of the article that I will touch on later go even deeper.
DEmilio goes as far as to discuss ways in which to change the inequality and negative attitudes
of the LGBTQ community on campus. Again in Brown, Clarke, Gortmaker, and RobinsonKeilig (2004) research based article, they also draw the conclusion of the importance of
administration. Brown, Clarke, Gortmaker, and Robinson- Keilig (2004) found implementing
such a campus-wide systemic approach (to these changes) will necessitate support from top
campus administrators who must work within the political climate of their state. (p. 22)
Recognition of a need for change
Within these articles exists a common theme of recognition. What is meant by
recognition is that, there was recognition of a problem within the campus culture at higher
education institutions. This can be seen in the first article by Beemyn (2003) when he was
discussing Donaldson and his passion to start a new group on campus. Donaldson went through a
conduct case with residence life where he was mandated to move out of his residence hall after
his roommate complained about Donaldsons sexual orientation. (Beemyn, 2003, p.207)

The Importance of Equality

Beemyn (2003) wrote more in depth about Donaldsons roots of desire for a new student group,
Deeply affected by the experience, when he finally met other gay students the following
school year he suggested that they form a Mattachine-like organization on campus, what
he (Donaldson) envisioned as the first chapter of a spreading confederation of student
homophile groups.
While Beemyns article focused a lot on the student initiative to start a new group and
change the current social structure, but dEmilios article and Brown, Clarke, Gortmaker, and
Robinson-Keiligs research spoke more from an administrative point of view. DEmilio (1990)
recognized that, Nevertheless, being openly gay on campus still goes against the grain
Oppression in its many forms is still alive, and the university is not immune to it. (p. 17) Brown,
Clarke, Gortmaker, and Robinson- Keilig (2004) also mentions Reviews of published campus
climate studies for GLBT students universally indicate that these students experience
discrimination, harassment, and fear and that the campus climate for them is chilly at best. (p. 8)
The common findings and reflections within these articles clearly indicates the recognition of a
need for change.
Implementing Change
Finally, the last common theme among these articles was a variety of techniques and
systematic approaches to successfully implementing the need for a social justice change on
campus. Within Beemyns (2003) article, he talked about the ways in which Donaldson had to
work around the administrations setbacks to found his group. One of the techniques that
Donaldson used in order to get his group founded was he recruited three students, all
established heterosexuals, who were willing to serve as the Student Housing League officers

The Importance of Equality

should he have to divulge individuals names in order to gain approval for the organization.
(Beemyn, 2003, p.209) While this may not seem like a successful technique, beginning to
implement a change that drastic looked very different back in 1965.
The more recently focused articles looked at more modern techniques to implement the
social justice change for a more LGTBQ friendly environment in a multitude of ways. DEmilio
(1990) mentioned a few specific places to concentrate on when educating and programming for
LGBTQ students. DEmilio reflected on where injustice happens and who needs to be educated
by saying,
One of the prime locations where harassment occurs is in residence halls. Dormitory
directors and their assistants need to be sensitized about gay issues and trained in how to
respond quickly and firmly to instances of oppressive behavior and harassment. (p. 18)
These ideas are all part of dEmilios plan to target specific programming initiatives as well.
DEmilio (1990) recognized the importance of programming by saying, student affairs
programming is an important tool in fostering toleration (p. 19) He also went on to say that
he believes weeks that celebrate LGBTQ history, showing certain films, and generally
integrating LGBTQ awareness into the campus wide programming would be beneficial.
(DEmilio, 1990, p.19)
The most recent research article by Brown, Clarke, Gortmaker, and Robinson- Keilig
(2004) included thoughts on who to target the programming to, and a very important general
reminder when conducting research. Brown, Clarke, Gortmaker, and Robinson- Keilig (2004)
reflected that, Programs intended for general students and GLBT students need to consider their
academic class and sex. (p. 21) I think that this it is especially important to remember the
possible intersecting identities of students when programming to them. Brown, Clarke,

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Gortmaker, and Robinson- Keilig (2004) also found that freshman and male students are
potentially important target groups for programming in their living units and in the classroom.
(p. 21) While discussing who to program to, where to include these programs, and how to
program- Brown, Clarke, Gortmaker, and Robinson- Keilig(2004) also reminded the reader of
the importance of surveying their own campus needs and basing their programming techniques
and need for an LGBTQ social justice change off of their own campus climate. (p, 21) One thing
that I wish was included in the study and reflections of the study done by Brown, Clarke,
Gortmaker, and Robinson- Keilig (2004) would be the aspect of the study that had to do with
Greek life and LGBTQ rights within those organizations on campus. Since Greek life has been
historically a very important part of campus culture and continues to rise in popularity today, I
think it would have been interesting to see date on effective ways to reach members of that
community.
In conclusion, within these three articles I have gained a better understanding of the
importance of the roles and responsibilities administrators have in making an effective social
justice change. By simply supporting students of marginalized identities, I can use my power and
privilege of my future position to make a difference. I also have learned effective ways to
communicate and program for students. It is important to sit back and really analyze the campus
culture of where I work. It is also important to keep in mind that the student I will try to be
educating on LGBTQ equality may be in the same position I was in terms of knowledge and
feelings about members of the LGBTQ community coming into college. Through all of this, I
can now take what I have learned and use it to better not only my personal identity, but also my
identity within the professional world of higher education.

References

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10

Beemyn, B. (2003). The Silence is Broken: A History of the First Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual
College Student Groups. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 12(2), 205-223.
Brown, R. D., Clarke, B., Gortmaker, V., & Robinson-Keilig, R. (2004). Assessing the Campus
Climate for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Students Using a Multiple
Perspectives Approach. Journal of College Student Development, 45(1), 8-26.
D'Emilio, J. (1990). The Campus Environment for Gay and Lesbian Life. Academe, 76(1), 1619.