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.
