Dennie Zastrow: Building Coalitions on Campus
Most resources about LGBT campus activism focus on creating a group. As the queer movement gains momentum, many students are noticing that their schools have realized this goal long ago. This begs the question, "What do I do now?"
If you are like me, you may find yourself on a campus with more than one LGBT organizations. I am a student at the University of Pennsylvania and we currently have nine active LGBTQA undergraduate groups. All of them serve a specific purpose or address a particular constituency. Allies focuses on providing programming and resources for straight allies of the community, while the Queer Student Alliance focuses on providing a social outlet for LGBT students. Queer People of Color seeks to discuss issues that arise when you identify with more than one minority group, while the Queer Christian Fellowship provides support for queer people of faith. Whether these organizations focus on strictly social programming or foster dialogue on important political issues of the day, each has something important to contribute to the LGBT community at Penn.
The creation of the Lambda Alliance was a practical solution to a problem that had plagued the Penn LGBT community for years. Each year, Penn’s Nominations and Elections Committee – a branch of student government charged with monitoring elections and appointing students to various high-level campus committees – fills six seats on the University Council – the highest policy making body on campus that advises the President, Provost, and other high-level administrators – with groups that advocate for mis- or underrepresented minorities. Though the LGBT community very clearly fit into this category, it was unclear which group would represent our community. As a result, Allies and the Queer Student Alliance both applied for a seat. Both groups claimed to represent the interests of the LGBT community, but neither had the mandate of representing the entire undergraduate LGBT community. The Lambda Alliance emerged as a solution to the complex problem of representation.
When you find yourself in need of a more unified, LGBT voice on campus, consider starting a coalition. In 2006, leaders from all of Penn’s undergraduate LGBT groups and members of the general LGBT community came together to draft a constitution for the Lambda Alliance. The coalition was born to provide a forum where every group could be heard and have equal input, regardless of its size (similar to how each state has two Senators in the U.S. Senate). From this forum came a singular, unified voice that strove to represent all LGBT undergraduates.
The Lambda Alliance meets once every two weeks on average. At each general body meeting, the five-member executive board and a representative from each constituent group discuss the current state of Lambda’s agenda. This can range from an update on meetings with administrators to what issues are being worked on with the student government. Each constituent group has one vote and a majority vote is necessary to pass proposals and amendments to the constitution.
Over the past few years, Lambda has labored to identify issues on campus that have a direct impact on the LGBT community. We have advocated for the recruitment and retention of more LGBT faculty, sought the implementation of a comprehensive campus climate survey, and advised the President and the Provost on ways that they can better adhere to Penn’s non-discrimination policy. As a coalition of nine groups, the Lambda Alliance has emerged as an influential organization. We hold a seat on the Undergraduate Assembly Steering – a group of student leaders that advises the student government – as well as on the University Council.
It should be noted that Lambda faced some initial difficulties. Creating an overarching LGBT organization where one did not exist in the past is bound to create some friction, and Lambda was no different. Many organizations felt that their autonomy was being taken away from them. Some just did not want to attend “one more meeting.” These are issues that ultimately worked themselves out over time. It is important to clarify the relationship between the coalition and its constituent groups. At Penn, the constituent groups govern the coalition, not the other way around.
If the LGBT community on your campus is as diverse as ours, it is important to create a forum where all facets are represented. This is what the Lambda Alliance attempts to accomplish. However, coalition building on campus should not stop at the LGBT community.
As the chair of the Lambda Alliance, I regularly meet with the leaders of several different coalitions on campus. The Asian Pacific Student Coalition, Latino Coalition, UMOJA, and United Minorities Council have proven to be steadfast allies to our cause. We identify several issues that impact all of our respective communities and tackle them as a unified front. This greatly amplifies our voice and increases the chance that the administration will listen to our concerns. Lambda Alliance itself represents roughly 1,000 students, and with the addition of four other coalitions, we are a formidable force.
In the past, we have used our influence to advocate for a comprehensive campus climate survey. A campus climate survey is a tool that is used for analyzing how welcoming a campus is toward any subset of the student body. Ultimately, we would like to see the administration at Penn implement a comprehensive survey that would effectively analyze how every student felt expressing themselves on campus, whether that be in terms of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, political views, et cetera.
The results of the comprehensive survey are currently being analyzed and we are eagerly awaiting a report. We want the administration to realistically evaluate the state of the campus climate and enact policies accordingly that will improve the climate; we are hopeful that this survey will advance that aim.
We still struggle to deal with myriad issues, ranging from the inability for LGBT students to self-identify on most university forms (admissions, housing, financial aid, etc.) to the university’s continued violation of its non-discrimination policy in regards to gender identity (continued use of the male/female binary on forms, lack of gender-neutral restrooms in all campus facilities, etc.). One thing, however, remains certain: the LGBT community at Penn is more able to tackle these issues because of the practice of coalition building. If you find yourself at a loss for how to deal with certain issues on campus because nobody is working together, perhaps it is time to raise the possibility of building a coalition, both within the LGBT community and external to it.