The University of Toledo

Case Study

The University of Toledo’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Initiative

The Case:
Studies find that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students continue to experience intolerance, harassment, and feelings of vulnerability in their educational communities (Evans, 2001; Malaney, Williams, & Geller, 1997). With about 7 percent of today’s college students identifying themselves as LGBT (Eyermann & Sanlo, 2002), creating supportive and inclusive educational communities is a major responsibility of student affairs across campuses. LGBT students bring unique characteristics and concerns that affect their academic experience and might relate to the development or assertion of an identity in a predominant heterosexual and gender-stereotyped environment, social isolation and alienation that might lead to higher rates of depression, substance abuse, fear of isolation from family and friends, potential violence toward LGBT individuals, and even suicide. Efforts to offer institutional support to the LGBT communities on campuses nation-wide have increased. Visibility, voice, resources, and emotional support are important considerations in making campuses safe for LGBT students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
 As part of its commitment to diversity, the University of Toledo is searching for ways to provide a safe and welcoming space on campus for the LGBT community and to offer resources for support and for the education of the larger university community. The Office of the Dean of Students is spearheading UT’s LGBT Initiative and accepting input from representatives of the campus community as it plans and develops a comprehensive response to this challenge.

 The Team Task:
 The Dean of Students invites your team to recommend an effective institutional approach to addressing the needs and concerns of UT’s LGBT community of students, faculty, staff and alumni. Your task is:

• Identify and describe the ways UT has and is currently supporting the LGBT community on campus;
• Research and present successful LGBT community support initiatives at institutions similar to UT; this search should focus on successful initiatives not employed by UT;
• Identify and present relevant theories of student development or on students that guide successful LGBT community support initiatives;
• Recommend an effective institutional approach that UT can undertake to address the needs of its LGBT community. Your recommendations should be guided by theoretical research and in-depth study of existing effective initiatives.
  

Your recommendations need to be carefully studied through:

• meetings with professional staff involved in addressing this issue;
• on-line research of best practices on similar campuses;
• books, articles, publications (most major journals are available on-line)

Your case analysis and recommendations will be presented before the Dean of Students and her team on March…., 2009.