Campus Life
LGBTQ Students
- What support services exist for LGBTQ students?
The LGBTQ Mentoring Program, sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Students in the College, features one-on-one mentoring and pairs interested LGBTQ undergraduates with an LGBTQ faculty or staff mentor who offers guidance, support, and mentoring. Mentors also act as sounding boards as students navigate their way through a (mostly) straight world and can help students address issues such as whether to come out to friends and family, on a resume, or in graduate or professional school applications.
The LGBTQ Programming Office, which shares space with the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) at 5710 South Woodlawn Avenue, hosts a variety of events, including weekly tea times, movie nights, and the Open Source discussion groups. In addition, the office sponsors trips to plays, quarterly pub nights (for students twenty-one and over), and an annual spring barbecue.
Open Source discussion groups for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender individuals, and queer students of color meet weekly and provide a confidential space for students to get to know each other and discuss topics of interest to them—social, political, academic, or otherwise. The informal groups are peer led and help foster a sense of community. The meetings are open to all—graduate, professional, and College students. Allies and friends of LGBTQ individuals are especially welcome to attend.
In addition, the University of Chicago is a major center for research and graduate training in lesbian, gay, and queer studies. Undergraduates who major or minor in gender studies may focus on queer and sexuality studies. The Center for Gender Studies (CGS) and its Lesbian and Gay Studies Project organize public lectures and film series and cosponsor the biweekly Gender and Sexuality Studies Workshop. CGS organizes a weekly Friday brown bag lunch that often features queer artists, activists, and academics, and it cosponsors three public lectures at the Chicago History Museum on the history of queer popular arts.
- What is the University’s position on civility and equity?
The University of Chicago is committed to fostering an environment free from racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism, homophobia, ableism, and xenophobia. The University has a number of policies and statements that reinforce the campus community’s commitment to diversity, civility, and equity. It is the responsibility of every member of the University community to foster an environment of full acceptance, respect, openness and understanding so that we can explore and discuss different views, even those which are unwelcome or offensive.
