Morehouse College Opens Its Doors To Trans Masculine Students

Morehouse College in Atlanta since 1867 has been the only all male college dedicated to the education of African American men.  It has a long distinguished list of alumni that include the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Spike Lee,  Samuel L Jackson, ATL Mayor Maynard Jackson, former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson,  Julian Bond, and NFL referee Jerome Boger just to name a few.

Unfortunately, Morehouse College was on the Princeton Review's dubious list of Top 20 transphobic and homophobic campuses, and had been on it since the 1990's.  Morehouse alums have also been vocal about wanting action taken to remove their school from that list.

I have long complained about the fact that HBCU's need to get busy making their campuses more welcoming to Black TBLGQ students or lose them to PWA's who are way ahead of them in doing so.

Looks like HBCU's are finally waking up to the reality that Black TBLGQ people exist and aren't going away or back in the closet. 

Today the Morehouse College Board of Trustees approved a policy that would open its doors to trans masculine students beginning with the Fall 2020 semester.

“In a rapidly changing world that includes a better understanding of gender identity, we’re proud to expand our admissions policy to consider trans men who want to be part of an institution that has produced some of greatest leaders in social justice, politics, business and the arts for more than 150 years,” Terrance Dixon, the college’s vice president of Enrollment Management, said in a statement. 

 “The ratification of this policy affirms the College’s commitment to develop men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service.” 

The currently enrolled 2200 students currently matriculating at 'The House' aren't affected by the new Gender Identity Admissions and Matriculation Policy.

Morehouse College President David Thomas took over in January 2018, and stated that he wanted to implement a formal policy covering transgender students.   The policy was developed after 15 months of community engagement that included faculty, staff, students and alumni as the result of a task force created by President Thomas.

Under the new policy, Morehouse's admissions doors are open to all persons who self identify as men, including trans masculine students. Trans women and people who identify as women are not eligible for admission to Morehouse.

If a person transitioned to female while enrolled at Morehouse, they are no longer eligible to study at The House.  Exemption to this rule must be granted by a three person panel appointed by Morehouse's president after an appeal by the affected student.

This policy is long overdue, and is welcome news for the trans community, Morehouse alums and our allies.  It's also a big step in recognizing the fact that Black trans people are Black people, and some of our Black trans masculine folks dream of matriculating at Morehouse College.

They made that dream a reality by approving this policy.

Bethune-Cookman Students Are Part Of A Distinguished Heritage Of HBCU Protest

For those of you tripping because Secretary of (Miseducation  Betsy DeVos' megabucks couldn't save her from getting dragged by the Bethune-Cookman Class of 2017 not feeling having their graduation ruined by her WTF level appearance at the school, y'all need to back up off the younglings.

Moni is proud of you, Bethune-Cookman Class of 2017, for being just the latest examples of a long distinguished history of HBCU student activists fighting injustice that in many ways changed not only their campuses, but America for the better.

The Greensboro Sit-In in 1960 was powered by students from HBCU's North Carolina A&T and the all women's Bennett College.   The Nashville Sit-in's by Fisk University students

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)  in addition to being founded on the Shaw University campus in April 1960 as a result of a meeting of 125 students from 10 states organized by Ella Baker, was led by future DC mayor Marion Barry (1960-61) and future congressman John Lewis (1963-66) .

SNCC would go on, powered by HBCU trained student leaders, to initiate the most important and impactful campaigns of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.  In fact, when the March on Washington was held in August 1963, John Lewis spoke at the event because he was SNCC's chair at the time and the youngest speaker there.

The Freedom Rides, a concept pioneered by Bayard Rustin, was resurrected in May 1961 by CORE, and suspended after a Freedom Rider bus was firebombed in Birmingham, AL, thanks to the leadership of Diane Nash,  took over the project.

Nash had attended the conference that led to the founding of SNCC and at 22 was a veteran of the Nashville Student Movement and the leader of the Nashville Sit in Campaigns  .

Even in my hometown and home state of Texas HBCU student leadership at HBCU's Texas Southern University in Houston and Prairie View A&M University norwest of H-town have stood tall for our people and pushed change.

A series of sit-in's organized by TSU students led to Houston city fathers, fearful of the violence that happened elsewhere in the South and losing their bids for NASA Mission Control at JSC and the Major League Baseball expansion team that became the Houston Astros in 1962, cutting a series of deals with TSU administration, Black Houston business and religious leaders that not only resulted in the desegregation of Houston lunch counters, restaurants and hotels,  but led to African-American Houstonians being guaranteed 10% of the construction jobs, and post construction employment opportunities at the Astrodome,

When the Eighth Wonder of the World opened in April 1965, it did so as an integrated stadium thanks to those TSU student protesters.

Meanwhile, up US 290, Prairie View, A&M University students have been engaged since 1972 in a pitched with Waller County concerning their voting rights.  It is a predominately Black county even before we add the over 9000 students enrolled at PVAMU

It is predominately white (and GOP) Waller County officials who have long sought to suppress the ability of PVAMU students to exercise their right to vote by using whatever voter suppression tactic necessary including denial of an on campus polling place.

Waller County eventually lost voting rights lawsuits filed to ensure the voting rights of PVAMU students, and the students at Pantherland now enjoy an on campus polling place.  But they are still fighting Waller County and its repressive officials tooth and nail to ensure there is no slippage of the hard won rights they do enjoy.

The death of Sandra Bland near the PVAMU campus only heightens the urgency of that fight.with Waller County.

With the election of 45, it is the energy and passion of our youth, just like they did in the 60's and in subsequent decades fighting for human rights for themselves and our community, that will not only lead to those human rights gains for themselves but for our community as a whole.

And many of them will be continuing the proud tradition of HBCU's protesting injustice as they do so.

Fayetteville State University To Become Third HBCU With LGBT Center

There are 105 HBCU's in the United States (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and only two of them have LGBT centers on their campuses.  And no, those schools aren't the elite ones like Howard or  Spelman, but Bowie State University and  North Carolina Central University.

I'm happy to hear that the pathetic lack of LGBT centers on HBCU campuses is starting to be addressed by this generation of TBLG college students seeking to make the HBCU campuses they matriculate on more conducive to their needs and less scary places to navigate. 

I talked to students at Florida A&M University during last year's OUT on the Hill.  One of their goals was getting an LGBT center established on their Tallahassee, FL campus as part of a package of reforms in the wake of the Robert Champion hazing death that shut down the FAMU Marching 100 band until this season.   

I'm also happy to report that a third HBCU, Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC will have the grand re-opening of an LGBT center on their campus fittingly on October 11, National Coming Out Day. 

The goals of the FSU Safezone Office is to raise cultural competence of faculty and staff on LGBTQ issues, provide visible support to the LGBTQ population on campus, educate students on issues facing LGBTQ people and retain LGBT students.

If Fayetteville State University sounds familiar to you long time TransGriot readers, it's because back in November 1995 it was the same HBCU that discriminated against #girllikeus Sharon Franklin Brown, who was working as a residence director of a women's dorm at the time when it was discovered she was a trans woman.    

Look like the campus climate at Fayetteville State University has come a long way since that less than honorable day

As I have said before and will happily state for the record again, HBCU's need to send the unmistakable message to their faculty, current and future students, alumni, and the communities they serve that discrimination against LGBT students on HBCU campuses will not be tolerated, policies and nondiscrimination statements to back it up, they have inclusive and welcoming campuses, and they are willing to include LGBT students in their ongoing missions to uplift the race through educational achievement.

Fayetteville Stae University has decided to do just that..   

NCCU Opens Second LGBT Student Center On An HBCU Campus

Bowie State University in Bowie, MD opened the first LGBT Student Center on an HBCU campus last year.   The second is now on the North Carolina Central University campus.in Durham, NC.

On April 9 NCCU opened their LGBT Student Resource Center, located in G-64 of the Alphonso Elder Student Union.

n addition to making NCCU the second HBCU to have a dedicated LGBT center on campus, it has the distinction of being the first to do so on a North Carolina based HBCU campus.

The center is supported by Creating Open Lives For Real Success (C.O.L.O.R.S.) and Dominating Overly Motivated Studs (D.O.M.S.) and overseen by Director of Student Life Assessment and C.O.L.O.R.S. advisor Tia Doxey.


Ihe NCCU LGBT Student Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM-5 PM.  It is designed so students can connect with other members of the local LGBT community and learn about their culture and identity. The research center contains resources students cn take advantage of such as an LGBT support network, the LGBT lecture series, educational and social programming and a library stocked with LGBT themed materials.

Doxey gave the credit for attaining the space for the new center to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. Kevin Rome and the Empowerment Committee. "He worked diligently to find a space and to really push the envelope,” said Doxey. “We wanted a space where we can grow.”

Doxey's five year plan for growing the center includes getting permanent staff, offering more programming, reaching out to more NCCU faculty and staff, working with the school to create an inclusive environment for LGBT students on campus and eventually moving into a larger space.

Congratulations NCCU.  May the center grow and prosper to where you'll need that expanded space sooner rather than later. 

What Would Spelman College Do In This Trans Feminine Student Situation?

“Schools should be focused on building our next generation of leaders, not discriminating against them." Calliope Wong

I had an interesting conversation with Samantha Master the other day about getting HBCU's to recognize that Black TBLG students exist.   HBCU law schools are ahead of the game when it comes to having non discrimination policies that included gender identity and expression but the HBCU main campuses that host these law schools surprisingly don't. 

We discussed how it would be in their best short and long term interests to ensure their campuses were open, inclusive and affirming places for TBLG students and they needed to get busy enacting policies and procedures to make that happen.   And yes, as a group they also needed to improve on the sorry situation of having only one of the 105 HBCU's (Bowie State University) having a dedicated LGBT center on campus.

Our conversation turned to transteen Calliope Wong and her recently being turned down twice by Smith College for enrollment while hypocritically allowing transmen to matriculate on campus if they transition after they have been admitted.  Smith College according to Dean of Admissions Debra Shaver and HuffPo Gay Voices has put together a committee to look at the issues that affect trans applicants. 

The Smith committee will begin its work at the start of the 2013-14 academic year in September and includes students.   The students involved on this committee have indicated that Smith would stop using the gender marker on FAFSA applications when evaluating trans students for admission.

While I hope the situation at Smith is substantive change and has a positive resolution for future trans applicants to the college, mine and Samantha's HBCU centric discussion put me in 'What if?' hard solid thinking mode. 

What would happen if you flipped the racial script and instead of Calliope Wong, had a bright African-American trans feminine student named Kendra Nicole Williams in this mix?  

Kendra wants to attend the elite African-American women's HBCU Spelman College because it's her dream school and applies.  She transitioned at age 14 and has a supportive family who helped her live her trans teen feminine life.   Kendra excelled academically in her high school and has begun the process of changing her identity documents. 

But because her family doesn't have a spare $20K in the bank genital surgery is out of the question right now because they see it as a bigger priority to use whatever extra money they have to help Kendra get the quality college education she needs.   


How would Spelman handle that situation I just outlined?  Would Kendra be accepted into the Spelman Class of 2017 with open arms or would they fumble the ball just as badly as Smith did?  

Atlanta based Spelman, which was founded in 1881, is one of the oldest historically Black women's colleges in the nation. I chose Spelman for this thought exercise because it is analogous in its elite status to Smith. in addition to it being among the nation's top ten best women's colleges as ranked by Forbes magazine, it has prestigious notable alumni and faculty.

For the sake of this exercise in hard solid thinking, let's assume Spelman fumbled the ball and refused to admit Kendra for the same reason Smith did.  It denied admission to Kendra based on a mismatched FAFSA gender code.   How much media negativity do you think Spelman would get right now because of that decision? 

I submit it would be ten times worse than what Smith got.   

In those media stories roasting Spelman over the coals you would see the ''Blacks are more homophobic' meme repeatedly come up in whatever stores they chose to write about it in addition to pointing out they are across the street from all-male Morehouse College and talking about its homophobic fails over the years.  

The mainstream media seems to take perverse pleasure in flipping the journalistic middle finger at POC trans women, and you can bet their penchant for doing so would come into play here.

Don't even get me started about the Black gossip blogosphere and the transphobic ignorance they gleefully display on a regular basis.  You can count on a few hip hop formatted radio station morning shows jumping into this transphobic media mix and yours truly having to spend a few weeks putting some outlets on blast for the negative and sensationalistic reporting that some newspapers of record would aim at Kendra just for grins in addition to asking Spelman what's up with not admitting Kendra?

And to tweak the hard solid thinking on trans issues still further, what if the Kendra student in my earlier example was a cis female who enrolls and a year later transitions to male?   I have heard of this situation occurring at Smith and other Seven Sisters institutions but haven't heard if it has occurred at Spelman yet.

What would Spelman do when (not if) that happens?  Do they have non-discrimination policies and support structures in place to make it a welcoming environment for that now transmasculine student?

So let's end the 'What If' exercise for now and move on to the known quantities about Spelman.  Beverly Daniel Tatum, the current Spelman president has a well earned reputation of being a supportive ally on the SGL issues.  Spelman has been ahead of the curve in terms of being a role model for HBCU's that embrace tackling LGBT issues.   

In addition to Spelman having AFREKETE, the highly regarded LGBT and ally organization on its campus, it was the host campus for the groundbreaking Audre Lorde Historically Black College and University Summit on April 29, 2011.   The one day summit was spearheaded by Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, the founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center, attended by representatives of nine HBCU campuses from across the nation and was enthusiastically supported by President Tatum.

It focused on LGBT issues within African-American and HBCU communities and included a session on LGBT organizing paneled by the Human Rights Campaign's Deputy Director for Diversity Donna Payne and National Black Justice Coalition CEO Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks.  

But I don't know as of yet what President Tatum's stances are concerning trans issues and I would love to have that conversation with her.  Spelman despite being the undisputed leader on LGBT issues in HBCU collegiate world still as of this writing doesn't have a dedicated LGBT resource center on its campus like Bowie State does..   

I believe that in my earlier example, based on the groundbreaking work that Spelman is already doing that my fictional trans student Kendra would be admitted.   She might have a few issues she'd have to deal with like what would happen if she wanted to pledge one of the Divine Nine sororities on campus or the possibility of somebody transphobically tripping in the dorms because of her pre-operative status, but in terms of getting a quality education in an HBCU setting as a trans student, she'd probably be in the best place for it on paper.

Trans students will bring some issues to the table that may seems daunting to a women's college but are manageable with thoughtful preparation, clear enforced policies and procedures, and established support systems.  Most importantly, they have administrations that make it crystal clear discrimination aimed at trans and SGL students will not be tolerated.     


What I said to close out my 'HBCU's Better Recognize Black TBLG Students Exist' post still applies a year later. 

HBCU's need to send the unmistakable message to their faculty, current and future students, alumni, and the communities they serve that discrimination against LGBT students on HBCU campuses will not be tolerated.   HBCU's need to show they have inclusive and welcoming campuses, and they are willing to include LGBT students in their ongoing missions to uplift the race through educational achievement.

I believe that Spelman and the other Black HBCU women's colleges such as Bennett are taking what happened recently at Smith as a cautionary tale.  I hope they are engaging in hard solid thinking to avoid the public relations nightmare Smith fell into because of the lack of admissions procedures and policies in place for trans feminine students.  

Based on the work they've already done, I'm confident Spelman will be prepared for the inevitable day when a Black trans woman comes application in hand to fulfill her dream of getting an education on their distinguished HBCU campus and become one of the exceptional Black women Spelman College has produced for over a century.  

Morehouse College LBGT History Course Starts Today

HBCU's need to send the unmistakable message to their faculty, current and future students, alumni, and the communities they serve that discrimination against LGBT students on HBCU campuses will not be tolerated, they have inclusive and welcoming campuses, and they are willing to include LGBT students in their ongoing missions to uplift the race through educational achievement.

TransGriot July 23, 2012 'HBCU's Better Recognize Black TBLG Students Exist '

In a remarkable advance for a campus that in the 90's was considered one of the Most Homophobic by the Princeton Review, Morehouse College's first ever LGBT history course got started today. 

The student initiated course is entitled "A Genealogy of Black LGBT Culture and Politics" and meets twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.   It has the goal of outlining various concepts in Black feminism, cultural theories, and the methodology behind them.

SafeSpace, the campus gay-straight alliance and student advocacy organization partnered with former Morehouse student and Yale University professor Dr. Jafari Allen in order to bring the idea to fruition.

Allen is teaching the course t his semester via video conference from Yale and student reaction to the groundbreaking class has been positive.   More than 20 people registered for the class; with some of them coming from neighboring all-female Spelman College.

It will be interesting to see how this class evolves as the semester plays out.   There will also be interested observers inside and outside the ATL watching to see if there will be more LGBT class offerings on the campus that proudly claims Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr as an alum.
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Debbie Allen Wants To Reboot 'A Different World'

A Different World broadcast its first episode 25 years ago this month.  I have been griping for more than a few years on these TransGriot electronic pages about Carsey-Werner not releasing Seasons 2-6 of the show on DVD or even considering doing a reunion episode in light of the fact the anniversary of the September 24, 1987 airing of its first episode is rapidly approaching.

I not only compiled a trivia quiz for the show for last year's anniversary, I even wrote a May 7 post entitled 'Imagining A Different World 2K12' , imagined what that show would look like, and ended that post with this comment.

So will we see A Different World 2K12?    Probably only in our dreams.  

Well, somebody must have sent that post to my Houston homegirl Debbie Allen, because there was a series of tweets starting on August 23 on her Twitter page stating she was interested in bringing back a rebooted A Different World back to television

If that's true, pinch me and make sure I'm wide awake.   Big Amen coming from me. 

I love this show like many other people of my generation and would love to see Dwayne, Whitley, Freddie, Ron and the Hillman College gang blended in with some 21st century Hillman students as I demonstrated in the May 7 post I wrote. 

The successful reboot of Dallas shows it can be done.  Seeing how well it did ratings wise and how it mixed the old characters we were familiar with the new generation of Ewings and Barnes', I have no doubt that a remixed for the 2K10's A Different World would be just as successful.

Debbie Allen at the helm of it would ensure A Different World would be 'keeping it real' and it stayed as close to having that HBCU experience we all loved about the original show.

I say that because in the current TV landscape we are chock full of mindless fare and tawdry reality TV shows aimed at African American audiences.

We would love a smart, well written ensemble cast show with topical storylines like A Different World successfully pulled off from 1987-1993.   

So Debbie and 'errbody' else in Hollywood, please make the A Different World reboot happen.  If you do, I'll happily write the 'I was wrong' post as I eagerly await the return of Hillman College to my television screen.   If you're looking for script writers for the new show, where do I put in my application for it?

And oh yeah, here are the answers to last year's A Different World trivia quiz. 

HBCU's Better Recognize Black TBLG Students Exist

One of the issues we discussed during the just concluded Texas Transgender Non-Discrimination Summit was the lack of LGBT centers on Texas colleges and university campuses.   There's one at Texas A&M, UT-Austin, and a part time one at the University of Houston and they narrowly survived an attempt by our conservafool legislators to cut their funding.

However sad that data point is of three TBLG collegiate centers in the Lone Star State, the reality is there are more on campus LGBT centers in red state Texas than in all of the 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) put together.  That's disgusting considering it's not a 21st century phenomenon that Black GLBT students exist. 

There are two major HBCU's here in Prairie View A&M, just northwest of Houston which is part of the Texas A&M University system and Texas Southern University here in H-town.  PVAMU doesn't have one and neither does TSU, which is mere blocks from the University of Houston main campus despite increasing numbers of LGBT students on their campuses.  .       . 

Out of the 105 HBCU's across the nation, only one has opened an LGBT center on its campus and that just happened this year.  

The university that made this interesting piece of Black history happen is Bowie State University in Bowie, MD.   After working on it since 2007 BSU opened its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Allies (LGBTQI and Allies) Resource Center.on April 2.

It's not like HBCU's have existed in the 20th and early 21st centuries without chocolate rainbow people matriculating on their campuses.  All of them at one time or another, including elite HBCU campuses such as Morehouse, Spelman and Howard are aware they have or had SGL students in their midst and TBLG alums they solicit for donations.  

Ignoring the issues that impact current SGL and trans students on those HBCU campuses won't make them go away, get those GLBT alums and their supportive allies to write those donation checks or help them draw future Black GLBT students to their campuses.    

Morehouse College sadly has been a poster child for the head in the sand approach on TBLG issues.  Throughout  the 80's and 90's it was on the Princeton Review's Top 20 Most Homophobic campuses list, had an ugly 2002 on campus gay bashing incident ,had two employees fired after homophobic e-mail rants surfaced  in reaction to a gay wedding photo and passed a controversial phobic dress code

The Robert Champion hazing death case that blew up on the Florida A&M campus in November 2011 has caused the resignation of its president, resulted in third degree felony indictments of 13 students and caused its world famous Marching 100 Band to be placed on indefinite suspension.

As National Black Justice Coalition Executive Director/CEO Sharon Lettman-Hicks noted in a press release discussing the Champion case and HBCU's, "These institutions develop many of our future leaders but fail to create safe and nurturing environments for all of our young people to thrive. Combined with legal protections, cultural shifts on these campuses are needed to literally save lives. Our work doesn’t end here.”

Be interesting to see what NBJC has planned in order to help HBCU's get up to speed protecting our TBLG young people who proudly attend these institutions. 

The Champion case is also a warning to HBCU's that they need to get busy proactively tackling the issues of homophobia and transphobia on their campuses.  If they don't, they will discover that ignoring those issues will cost them serious money down the line either in lawsuits or lost revenue because SGL and trans students aren't going away or in the closet.

As bad as HBCU's have been on gay and lesbian issues, gender identity and trans issues on HBCU campuses have probably moved at a glacial pace since Sharon Franklin Brown's well publicized 1995 case.   In light of the fact their white collegiate counterparts are making consistent strides on transgender issues, it's past time for HBCU's to get in the game and get up to speed on trans issues as quickly as possible.  

HBCU's can begin that recognition process by not only opening LGBT centers on their campuses, they can add sexual orientation, gender identity and expression language to institutional non-discrimination statements and employment policies.   Most importantly once they do so, they need to be enforced. 

HBCU's need to send the unmistakable message to their faculty, current and future students, alumni, and the communities they serve that discrimination against LGBT students on HBCU campuses will not be tolerated, they have inclusive and welcoming campuses, and they are willing to include LGBT students in their ongoing missions to uplift the race through educational achievement.

TSU Takes 2010 SWAC Football Title!

Texas Southern University alums everywhere are standing a little taller tonight as their Tigers rolled into Birmingham and claimed the SWAC championship trophy with a dominating 11-6 win over the SWAC East Division Champion Alabama State Hornets.

Texas Southern's eighth straight win helped them capture their first football title of any kind in the SWAC since a 1968 tri-championship and their first outright championship ever.    They also tied a school record for most wins ever in a season with their 9-3 record.

"Nobody will ever again say that TSU hasn't won a championship," TSU head coach Johnnie Cole said. "It is bigger than the coach. This is about all that TSU has been and can be and about a group of young men who fought through all types of adversity to become champions."

And it was an even sweeter win for coach Cole because he was a quarterback for TSU back in the 80's amd took over the reins after TSU hit rock bottom with an 0-11 campaign in 2007

It also means that the SWAC Championship trophy is staying in Texas.  Prairie View won the SWAC football title in 2009.

It's going to set up an interesting match up the next time TSU and Prairie View bump heads on the gridiron in the 2011 football season.

But they ain't thinking about that over on Wheeler Avenue right now or on that long and happy bus ride back from Alabama with the SWAC championship trophy in their possession.

Texas Southern University is the 2010 SWAC football champion.   Say it, and let the parties begin on The Yard.

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Howard University Forum On Being GLBT And Greek

The Divine Nine frats and sororities have been a groundbreaking part of the African American community for over a century and have evolved as our community has. 

I've talked about in these electronic pages about whether they are as ready to accept transpeople in their ranks, but was heartened to see a Kristen Briscoe article in the Howard University student newspaper about a recent panel discussion that tackled the topic of being gay while in a Greek sorority or fraternity.

It was fitting that this panel discussion took place there since five BGLO's (Black Greek Letter Organizations) ,  Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Phi Beta Sigma, Zeta Phi Beta and Omega Psi Phi were all founded at various times on the Howard University campus

 

The forum drew a crowd of over 100 students and faculty that packed Room 136 of Douglass Hall and was hosted by CASCADE, Howard's gay-straight alliance organization.

Theara Coleman, the sophomore English  student chairing the event stated,"The purpose of this discussion is to break down preconceived notions of Greek organizations."

One of those preconceived notions is that BGLO's are homophobic and transphobic.   

This discussion featured a panel comprised of six Howard students and alumni who are openly gay and active in their Greek letter sorority or fraternity.  

The panelists were asked questions about their experiences inside these organizations.

It was a lively meeting that concluded at 9 PM and the panelists noted to the assembled crowd that they hadn't faced any negativity within their various organizations    

As Howard alum Valerie Jones was quoted as saying to assembled throng, "It's because of the leader that I am that I was brought into the organization, not my sexuality."

One of the more controversial questions asked to the panel was how they balance being a part of a Greek organization while remaining true to their own identity.

"What I do behind closed doors doesn't affect my ability to participate in my organization," Teron Stocks said. "I shouldn't have to feel like an alien because I'm gay."

The meeting also brought home the point that Black SGL people are part of our African-American community.  We like everyone else in it have talents and skills that we are ready, willing and able to contribute to help build the community and the various organizations that help do that work.