Dec. 11, 2013

By Bethe Croy

According to its website, UW-Whitewater prides itself on being an accepting campus, putting an emphasis on the importance of diversity. Despite the university’s efforts to be inclusive, however, not all students are tolerant of nontraditional or minority groups, one of those being the LGBT community on campus.

UW-W made local news during the 2010-11 school year, when three hate crimes occurred one campus. Two of the instances involved crimes against the LGBT community; two women were physically and verbally assaulted based on their perceived sexual orientations; one of the women was wearing a “Legalize Gay” shirt.

According to UW-W news archives from the time, the campus responded with a unity rally called “Unity through Diversity–A Positive Rally Against Hate Crimes” in which hundreds of students and faculty showed their support to the victims and stood up against intolerance by sharing personal stories and encouragement.

Campus Police Chief Matthew Kiederlen said the campus had immediately come out in support of the victims after the hate crimes occurred. Support was shown through the unity rally, as well as university faculty members creating an “It Gets Better” video, inspired by the international project to support LGBT youth and take a stand against discrimination and bullying.

“I thought it was a very positive response to a very negative situation,” Kiederlen said.

Since then, the campus has taken measures to protect diversity on campus such as increasing the Campus Service Officer program to create more active patrolling of parking lots and other areas throughout campus. In addition, they brightened the lighting on campus to increase nighttime visibility, Kiederlen said.

The university has offered safety and self-defense classes before the incidents occurred and continue to do so, he said.

Nicholas Milone identifies as LGBT and was a freshman on campus when the hate crimes occurred. Milone said though the university has made improvements since the incidents, he still feels there will be intolerant people on campus.

Milone said he believes there should be more focus on individuals and teaching future generations about tolerance and acceptance. He has had personal experience with verbal intolerance on campus before, and he remains cautious, though not as much as his first year, he said.

“To me, it’s not the campus that needs to improve at this point, because I feel they’re doing a great job,” Milone said.

The problem is with the person committing the crimes and spreading hate, he said.

Milone said the university offers many resources for students and faculty, including IMPACT, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Straight Ally student organization on campus, as well as the P.B. Poorman Pride Resource Center, a space located in the University Center for LGBT and ally students, faculty and staff to connect and learn.

James Sheets, sophomore and president of IMPACT, said he feels the campus has been inclusive for the most part, the exception being small derogatory comments such as “that’s so gay,” etc.

In addition to his involvement with IMPACT, Sheets is also part of the Chancellor’s LGBT Task Force, a group that works directly under Chancellor Telfer and focuses specifically on LGBT rights, in addition to the Chancellor’s Committee on Inclusive Excellence, a committee focused on a more broad spectrum of diversity including race, ethnicity, social economic status, LGBT, and so on.

Sheets said he feels sometimes the campus—the dorms, more specifically—focus on diversity through race and ability status and leave out the rest, and a more widespread understanding of LGBT issues and events would help.

“Sometimes the LGBT is forgotten about,” Sheets said. “So more awareness and more public acceptance is awesome and would be beneficial for students.”

Sheets has not had any experience with discrimination or anti-gay behavior with the exception of “micro-aggressions,” such as people saying “that’s so gay” in a negative fashion, he said.

He said the campus could benefit from educating more of the Resident Assistants and Residence Hall Association staff on LGBT acceptance, as well as educating professors to be more inclusive in the classroom.

Kiederlen said the best way to stay safe on campus for anyone, whether LGBT or not, is to be aware of their surroundings. Making an effort to stay alert and in well-lit areas at night will help students to be safer, he said. He also said speaking out is important to the safety of the campus.

“We support all manner of students on this campus, and anyone that has a problem with any situation, we encourage them to come forward,” Kiederlen said. “If you think something’s going on, if you see something going on, say it, and tell us. Let us know so that we can help or so we can deal with the problem.”