Allies Program Aims to Heighten Awareness
A new campus training program introduced this fall and conceived by the Student Health Education Program helps faculty, staff, and students expand their awareness of sexual diversity. The Allies Program attempts to sensitize people to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues, and to give those who identify as other than heterosexual a support network on campus. Plans call for eventually expanding training to race, gender, disability, and religious issues.
“We believe that the responsibility for creating safe and welcoming space within our campus community resides within every department and every office. Not just with health education administrators, but with librarians, biology professors, and staff people,” said Ray Quirolgico, associate director of residence life and one of the coordinators of the training program.
This fall, 91 people attended one of five training sessions offered. More training is planned for the spring. The two-hour sessions focus on the definitions and language used in framing perceptions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people as a way of thinking about stereotypes and myths. Role playing and other exercises help trainees think about how to be a useful supporter, or “ally,” of someone who is openly gay or who is questioning their sexuality.
“It’s really just about being yourself, but being willing not to make judgments about other people based on their sexuality,” said Melissa Kenzig, coordinator of the student health education program and another coordinator of the training.
Kenzig said the idea of a training program surfaced two years ago when the Health Education Advisory Committee became concerned about informal complaints of gay students feeling isolated in the residence halls. Residence hall administrators also said they needed help in addressing sexual issues within a Jesuit Catholic context.
“It was nice to be in a room full of people who really wanted to understand issues in the transsexual or transgender community,” said Andie Seeber, a USF senior and a transsexual who attended the first training in September. The USF Vision, Mission, and Values statement was also discussed as confirmation of respect for every individual’s choices.
At the end of the training, participants sign a pledge confirming their understanding of the training and are given the option of posting a pin or a magnet near their office space advertising their availability as an ally. “Our idea down the line is that people would have five, six, seven magnets on their door if they go through all the trainings,” Kenzig said.
Allies also have the option of posting their names on an ally list on the program’s Web site at www.usfca.edu/allies. Kenzig cautioned that the training does not prepare people to be counselors. “Not everyone has a problem when they seek an ally,” Kenzig said. “They may feel like they just want to be open and not hide.”
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