FEBRUARY 7, 1997 GAY PEOPLe's ChronicLE
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Hiram student group
forms alumni association
by Dawn Leach
Hiram-In the seven years that the Hiram College Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance has been in existence, it has gone through at least four name changes, nearly folded once, was reborn, and is now on the verge of forming a gay alumni association.
LGBA's first director, Eric Dicken, said that the group grew out of an informal network of gay and lesbian students with lots of ideas for activities they wanted. The only thing lacking was leadership and organization.
In 1990, the trustee board of the college, located about 30 miles southeast of Cleveland, passed a resolution to include sexual orientation in their anti-discrimination clause. Openly gay trustee Mike Dively then donated money for the library to carry gay magazines and, along with another gay trustee, bought the library a gay encyclopedia. Additional money was donated to fund gay student activities, and with the support of Dively and college chaplain Tom Niccolls, the Lesbian Gay Union was born.
"It really helped us a lot to know that other people were supporting us," said Dicken. "Other people quietly supported us, and offered money if we needed it."
In its first year, LGU sponsored a five-day gay film festival, held a retreat, created a support group, and won the school's Outstanding New Student Organization award.
According to Dively, the group was torn between wanting to create a safe space for students in the process of discovering their sexual orientation, and a desire to be visible and combat homophobia on campus. "Like all BGLUS, they struggled," said Dively. "Students groups do this to start with,
they sort of reinvent themselves every year or every two years."
In 1993, the group began to splinter from the stress of its identity battle, and attendance dropped off. When faculty advisor Bill Laughner died unexpectedly during spring break of 1994, the group faded practically out of existence.
As often happens with student organizations, new students came in with fresh ideas and energy and breathed life into the dying organization. In 1995, openly lesbian history professor Vivien Sanlund joined two other openly gay professors to become LGBA's team of faculty advisors.
"I think it creates a wonderful role model," Dively said of the participation of openly gay professors, "and it also allows for the inclusion of gay and lesbian material in the academic curriculum, particularly in social studies, and that's exciting."
This year, LGBA traveled to Washington to see the October display of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, participated in the Cleveland AIDS walk in September, brought speakers and entertainment to campus for a gay and lesbian awareness week, and is currently in the process of organizing a gay alumni reunion.
"I was absolutely delighted when I got a note from the development office saying that the young man who is heading the GLBU now
was trying to reach me," said Dively. “I just think it is wonderful. If anything, it is a wonderful tribute to Bill Laughner."
LGBA has already contacted over fifty lesbian and gay Hiram alumni.
LGBA also co-sponsored a convocation on religion and homosexuality, which brought three pastors from open and affirming congre-
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Hiram LGBA members display the banner the group carried in the 1993 March on Washington.
gations to discuss their responses to biblical references frequently used to condemn gays.
LGBA advisor Colleen Fride said that the group affirms gays and lesbians struggling with their identities.
"I think it gives students a chance to see that you can be healthy and happy and still be gay or lesbian in our society, because a lot of times as you're first coming out, there can be a lot of fears."
Faculty advisor Larry Goldsmith said that Hiram staff and students have made it easier for him to serve in that role by making him and his lover feel welcome at college events.
"One thing I like most about Hiram is that I can be out here," said Goldsmith. "There are so many colleges and universities where that would not be possible."
Goldsmith said that because Hiram is
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small-less than 1,000 students-and is an hour's drive from a major city, gay students must find a sense of community within the college.
Fride said that LGBA helps fill that gap. "I think it gives students a chance to see that you can be healthy and happy and still be gay or lesbian in our society, because a lot of times as you're first coming out, there can be a lot of fears."
Fride, who is an openly gay chemistry professor, also said that she has found Hiram to be an open and accepting community.
"The faculty here are extraordinarily supportive, and they've been very inclusive. That's a really good sign," said Fride.
Anyone interested in the Hiram College gay alumni events should contact the LGBA office at 330-569-5935.
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