The Senate’s decision last week to support a possible Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center on campus sparked much controversy among students. Students created four Facebook groups with titles ranging from “Students Against NCSU LGBT Center” to “Students Against Giving a F— About the NCSU LGBTCenter.”
Jantzen Brantley, a senior in forest management, said he was inspired to create the Facebook group “Students Against NCSU LGBT Center” during an afternoon class last Thursday. He had just read the Technician story concerning the Senate’s decision.
“It kind of made me mad that I didn’t have a say in [the decision] and didn’t even hear about it until after it was passed,” Brantley said. ” I just decided then that I was going to do something.”
Brandon House, a junior in animal science, said he decided to join Brantley in setting up the group because of a personal belief against the type of lifestyle the LGBT Center stands for.
“That’s just not how I was brought up,” House said.
The Facebook group against the LGBT Center now has more than 1,000 members.
Sam Morris, graduate assistant for LGBT Services, said he isn’t really worried about Facebook groups like Brantley and House’s group.
“Out of 30,000 students, that’s really just a drop in the bucket,” Morris said.
Some students said the funding was a reason for rejecting the idea of the new student center.
“It’s not about getting the center. It’s about me having to pay for it,” Brantley said, “Having to pay for a center I don’t agree with and don’t believe in.”
House said he understands it would not increase student fees a lot.
“The thing is I don’t think that whether it is increasing student fees by 90 percent or 9 percent is the issue,” House said. “I just don’t agree with it.”
Unity and Progress, formerly known as BGLA, has started new activities for students such as workout groups and group tailgating at football games.
Morris said these activities will show that students in Unity and Progress are also involved with other aspects of campus life and “provide a great outlet for integration.”
Morris said students would be able to come to the events if they didn’t feel comfortable at the meetings.
“We also might have campus forums to help get rid of any misconceptions because that’s the big problem – a whole bunch of misconceptions,” Jeremy Hall, executive coordinator of Unity and Progress, said.
Morris said during information sessions the University hosts, the administration always mentions diversity. It never tries to present N.C. State as a conservative campus.
“The University administration, who I think a lot of people think are not for this particular center actually are,” Morris said, “I think the University has a strong commitment to diversity.”
Lee Sartain, technology and media coordinator of Unity and Progress, said he thinks that when the center is actually in operation, much of the current opposition will die off.
“It’s a lot of hype right now,” Sartain said, “People should be involved, try to get information from official sources and let the Facebook rumors simmer down.”
Unity and Progress and LGBT Services released a press release that includes the statistics that there are “3,200 students and 1,000 faculty/staff that identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.”
Sartain said the information was based on statistical averages for North Carolina and student assessment forms from 2004 and previous years.
