Fall 1999 Newsletter

Toward a More Gay-Friendly Williams: Hiring a New LGBT Coordinator

By Walter Cheng '97

Next spring, the Williams College Multicultural Center (MCC) is planning to add a new member to its staff: a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Issues Coordinator. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Alex Willingham, Director of the MCC, Anita Doddi '98, his assistant, and Andrew Singer '00, a student member of the LGBT Issues Coordinator selection committee. Through these conversations, I learned about the motivation for the position's creation, the current state of the candidate search and anticipated job responsibilities for the new coordinator.

In 1994, Williams College conducted a Residential Life Study to determine areas of college life that required attention. One recommendation of the study emphasized the need for a LGBT Coordinator to combat the infrequent, but steady, stream of on-campus homophobic events. According to Doddi, however, the massive scope of the study prevented the implementation of all recommendations, including the one for the creation of a LGBT coordinator.

In the spring of 1998, a rash of homophobic events on campus, including the verbal harassment of LGBT students, written epithets on queer students dorm room message boards and vandalism of a student memorial of the Matthew Shephard murder, all brought the harsh reality of homophobia at Williams to the forefront. Leaders of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Union (BGLTU) approached Security, Dean Peter Murphy, and the Committee on Undergraduate Life (CUL), voicing concern over the persisting attacks on the gay community. In response, the college hired Felice Yeskel of the Stonewall Center at UMass Amherst to assess the needs of the LGBT community of Williams. Her recommendations, unsurprisingly, again stressed the need to hire a LGBT Coordinator, who could serve as an advocate for LGBT issues on campus and as a liaison between students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

The search for the LGBT Coordinator began earlier this fall. The search committee consists of two faculty, two staff and two student members. They have received resumes from approximately 25 candidates, of which five have been selected for interviews taking place this November. Willingham noted that there has been considerable discussion concerning the ideal qualities of the selected candidate. Currently, the search committee is most interested in individuals who have had Master's level training and at least five years experience in LGBT activism and program planning. Singer commented that candidates should have at least some exposure to and knowledge of small, rural liberal arts college life. He expressed some concern over applicants whose experiences lie primarily in cities and/or large university systems, fearing they may not be aware of the specific concerns of the Williams community.

The search committee plans to make an offer by the end of 1999 and to have the Coordinator in place by the beginning of the spring semester. The LGBT Coordinator will be hired for an initial three year contract and his/her core responsibilities will be to spend the first part of his/her tenure conducting an assessment of LGBT needs on campus, with subsequent time spent implementing policy changes and interventions on campus.

Faculty, staff, and students appear to be very excited about the potential for change the LGBT coordinator may bring to the Williams Campus. According to Andrew Singer, "I think that Williams could become one of the most queer-friendly campuses in the country." Let's hope he's right.

The author would like to thank Dr. Alex Willingham, Anita Doddi and Andrew Singer for their generous time and insightful comments.

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