LGTQ Faculty and Professionals in Higher Education: Defining Allies, Identifying Support

“Whenever I see those little rainbow stickers, I know that there is a place you can go”: Visibility and sense of belonging for queer and/or trans community college students.

“…What would the difference be if our students within classes learned about the equal marriage?Although having images was important and provided a direct signal of safety, belongingness, and recognition of self, it is only the first step to larger shifts. This echoes with the study by DeVita and Anders (2018) who cautioned that stickers correlated directly with safety. Paulina noted in her interview how she wants to see a lot more done; she added:What I would love to see is more actions and you know what I mean?…”

“…These presentations allow for the creation of queer futurities to exist. Research by DeVita and Anders (2018) found that for LGBTQ professionals, imagery such as safe zone stickers and symbols were important; however, they should be cautioned in attribution to marking people and places with such symbols as “safe and affirming” (p. 72). Visuals and other forms of representation are not stagnant nor exist as stand-alone mediums; therefore, the importance of examining the role they play at higher education institutions is the first step toward larger structural shifts in campus climate.…”

Campus Recreation Amenity Use Differences by Sexual Orientation Among US College Students

“…LGBT ally training programs (ATPs) on college campuses have been previously examined to measure impact (Woodford et al, 2014); however, there continues to be a lack of engagement and operationalization in these initiatives to improve campus climate (DeVita & Anders, 2018) and many programs create over-ambitious goals that cannot be met due to resource limitations (Woodford et al, 2014). To combat issues of negative intergroup contact in the physical activity setting, future initiatives should implement programs with attainable goals that can be met with allotted resources of faculty time and skills, as well as ensure input from those who require ally-ship.…”

Arts-Based Research in Precarious Pedagogy-Making Experiences

“…Students from different levels, including graduate, undergraduate, high school, and middle school, participated in different stages and created different parts of the performance (see Figure 2). In the process, the graduate students applied their learning, acted as mentors for the undergraduate and high school students, and also learned to embody social justice action, rather than to statically identify as social justice allies (DeVita & Anders, 2018). The undergraduate students created films to present their learning and research of social justice topics in education (e.g., racism, sexism, classism).…”