Professional staff members from across eight universities joined for the inaugural N.C. LGBTQ Center Staff Conference this summer.
Attendees of the inaugural 2018 NC LGBTQ Centers Staff Conference shared best practices around advocating for LGBTQIA students, supporting queer and transgender students of color, and implementing initiatives that continue to advance education and inclusive excellence across campus.
Examples included LGBTQIA Ally Trainings, support for Lavender Graduation, the importance of universal restrooms, infusion into the academic curriculum, and a key focus on campus collaboration to support ongoing institutional change.
Three key collaborations highlighted by Elon staff included advancements with admissions for recruiting and embracing prospective LGBTQIA students, alumni engagement for cultivating donors and instilling the Elon spirit of inclusion to students post-graduation, and Academic Affairs through professors infusing LGBTQIA topics and requesting educational sessions into their classrooms.
Leading these collaborations are Matthew Antonio Bosch, director of the Gender & LGBTQIA Center, and Becca Bishopric Patterson, assistant director of the Gender & LGBTQIA Center.
The eight universities in attendance were: Elon University, Duke University, Wake Forest University, North Carolina Central University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and East Carolina University.
For the past three years, Elon University has been ranked No. 1 in North Carolina, No. 1 in the South, and within the top 25 in the United States for LGBTQ-Friendliest Schools, according to Campus Pride, the leading national organization tracking campus climate and LGBTQIA inclusion in higher education.
Following this conference, the Gender & LGBTQIA Center will head into the Fall 2018 semester by hosting their annual LGBTQIA & Ally New Student Welcome where new incoming first-year students quickly get connected with Elon’s growing community of LGBTQIA & Ally returning students, faculty, and staff. The highly attended event will be hosted this year on Thursday, Sept. 6, 201,8 from 5 to 6 p.m. in Upstairs Lakeside.