Kent Pri: Gay muny sh at ftival | SLIDESHOW | Kent Reporter

A History Of Pri: Six Qutns Wh Ken Dlevson – Director Of Kent State’s LGBTQ+ Center | Kent State Today, Kent Camp Universy News | Kent State's history of support for theLbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Queer Pl (LGBTQ+) muny is well documented. Earlier this year, Kent State's LGBTQ+ Center celebrated s 10-year anniversarywhilePRIDE!Kent (found as the Kent Gay Liberatn Front (KGLF) 1971) observed five s at Kent State, makg the longt ntuoly operatg LGBTQ stunt anizatn the untry. Ken Dlevson has been the director of Kent State’s LGBTQ+ Center sce 2014. For Pri Month, Kent State Todayasked him a few qutns about this landmark year. Q:What do you thk havg such a long-lived LGBTQ+ stunt anizatn on mp says about our universy? KD: I thk really speaks to the fabric of what Kent State reprents. I thk for so many stunts, people are attracted to Kent State's history of advocy and social jtice work. For me, means that we have a history of this. It's not somethg that's brand new – a new ncept that we're tryg to be more clive. It's been a practice and a piece of our muny at Kent for over 50 years. Jt stunts wantg to see change and feelg like they have a voice. So, I thk that says a lot about Kent State. I'm a two-time graduate of Kent State. And that's why I chose to e here as a stunt, bee of that history and Kent beg known for the work of stunt activism. It's neat to be part of that equatn –to be part of makg change. I thk Oh, there's a lot of work to still be done. There's a lot of work to be done across our untry and around the world, but Oh, I feel like there's the abily to make a change. And we n have our stunts active and beg part of that equatn – not jt like beg ancillary around . What n you do to fluence change here your own home state or where you're gog to school?Those are the thgs that kd of e to md for me. Q: In 2020, Kent State was named to Camp Pri’s 2020 Bt of the Bt LGBTQ-Friendly Colleg and Universi. As one of 40 stutns regnized over six U.S. regns, Kent State is the only school the Mid-Amerin Conference (MAC) and Northeast Oh to receive this honor. What are the thgs that you feel make Kent State LGBTQ-iendly? KD: I thk that 's jt our practice. It’s not jt the LGBTQ+ Center; there are many really great thgs that are beg done across the entire mp muny. We've got rincehalls that are genr-clive, we've got polici that are supportive of our trans folk, supportg gog by a chosen name or wh pronouns. We've also got an LGBTQ mor. We've got scholarships. We've got an emergency fund. There are many ponents across Kent State that support margalized muni like the LGBTQ muny. What mak stand out is that 's not jt one office that's tryg to make an fluence or make a difference supportg LGBTQ+ stunts, I feel like 's a real muny effort and there are so many people that are rallyg and wantg to be volved that really e to the table, which mak our work so much easier. It’s not jt me and Lo (Lo Denmon, assistant director of the LGBTQ+ Center) and our team of 10 stunt terns. There are lots of other enti across mp, cludg, of urse, our amazg stunts! We've got six LGBTQ stunt groups and that's bee the stunts have created those and wanted to see those there. And there are lots of muny partners and muny (members) rallyg around and workg towards equaly, which I thk is why we stand out that (Camp Pri Inx) srg system. Q: What support servic do PRIDE!Kent and the LGBTQ+ Center offer to the mp muny? KD: PRIDE!Kent is separate om the LGBTQ+ Center. They operate penntly jt like the other five LGBTQ stunt groups. What they do is offer a social nnectn for stunts, a place to meet people like themselv. For a lot of stunts, they don't need a center. They don't need unselg; they jt need to fd some iends and people like themselv. And so PRIDE!Kent serv a really important role that pacy. Typilly, their meetgs, they have an tnal ponent and they have been really active providg tn to the stunts, but then also advotg for change where they see needs. So, what do the LGBTQ+ Center do? We also do programmg and tn, and the ma difference is that we're a nstant element that's not gog to change every semter. Wh aterni and other stunt anizatns you know, you n be dog some really great stuff and then your print and vice-print graduat, and now you're startg om scratch or there's a void. Wh the center, we have paid staff whoare mted to makg sure that our stunts who intify the muny are safeguard and we're ensurg their succs at Kent State. My job and Lo's job is to make sure that once LGBTQ+ stunts e here thatthey feel supported, nnected to rourc, and that we get them to the fish le. We're all driven by makg sure that we get our stunts to reach graduatn, which is such a big tone. So, we're kd of a nstant elementthat's not gog to change every semter. In addn to dog programmg elements, we do film Fridays every month. We do a walkg group and have roundtable discsns where we prent on different topics. Our terns will prent, and we get a dialogue gog. We also provi trag across mp. We do Safe Space trag and Trans 101 trag to make sure that the faculty and staff are equipped wh bt practic and know-how to be clive. What else did we do? We operate an emergency fund. I'm the screener to make sure that if there's an LGBTQ stunt a fancial crisis, that we get them nnected to fancial rourc and we help oversee scholarships that are LGBTQ-specific. We have a lounge space our office area. There are uch and gam and books and thgs like that. We have a physil space where stunts n e and chill between class. And then we also do a lot of advocy too, addn to providg support to stunts who might be stgglg, whoare crisis or are jt stgglg wh typil llege thgs. Advocy n be another ponent. When I first started, we weren't a five out of five at Kent State on that Camp Pri Inx. And then we had stunts who said, “you know, we, we should have a preferred name policy at Kent.” Then we advoted that Kent State make that change. We help stunts, and we lift stunts' voic when they're seeg gaps at the universy. Right now, pronouns have not been a field the amic rerds. For people who go by different pronouns or who e they/them pronouns stead of genr pronouns ... some of our stunts have not felt supported. They utilized our office as a mechanism to advote for that change. We're very close to gettg that stuted to our culture here at Kent. In the past, we advoted for the preferred name, and we were able to get that. We also advoted that we get ee ndoms the stunt center for our stunts, and we got that. Every month, we have a team that looks at what advocy needs are need across the universy. We're workg wh HR right now and tryg to make chang wh the applitn se or the performance reviews to make sure that we're beg clive all across the board. Those are some of the big on. Q: What would you say to someone on mpwho might feel like they need help but is reluctant to ask for ? KD: I would say that they're not alone and to reach out whatever pacy that they're fortable. We'll probably always be dog some virtual ponent now. So, for folks that don't feel fortable g to the office, there's always that optn. We're able to do telephone nsultatns and help wh meetg people wherever they're fortable. We meet wh stunts sometim at Dunk Donuts or Starbucks for folks that are leerier about g to this space; they might be aaid that someone might see them. I would jt say toreach out whatever pacy that you feel fortable. Our webse also has a lot of great rourc, so you n accs some of that help anonymoly. In g to the center, we ask people to sign , but you n always sign anonymoly. We don't need to know the name; we're gog to serve anyone that's ont of . So, I would say, don't be aaid. You're not alone. And you've got lots of people across mp. If you're not fortable g to the LGBTQ+ Center, reach out, and one of those other paci, or look for one of the Safe Space Ally pledg that you'll see all over mp. People have gone through the trag who want to be an ally. For people that don't feel fortable g down here, bee they thk 's “rabow heaven,” like 's really visible, they might be more fortable talkg to their advisor. If they see a Safe Space Ally Trag logo, whether they're talkg to a profsor that might have that up, safer, more ntral plac. There are lots of alli across our mp. And I would say utilize , if you're able to, but there are lots of other alli that n help you across mp as well. Q: Lookg ahead, what do you see the future for the LGBTQ+ Center at Kent State? KD: Every year, our numbers go up as far as the number of people that we serve. We're tryg to be strategic our foc. We went through a strategic planng ssn a year or two ago. We're tryg not to do more than we n really acplish, and we want to really do what we do well. Our strategic plan has three foc ;re gog to ntue to foc on beg clive bee even the LGBTQ muny, there have been margalized muni like the trans muni and muni of lor that have not been served well. So, we're gog to put a lot of effort to makg sure that we're servg the margalized muni wh the LGBTQ muny. Sendly, we're also gog to ntue to advote for change to make sure that Kent State really is the most clive place for people. The third one is wellns. We're really lookg broadly at what that means bee we know that there is amic wellns, fancial wellns and mental health/physil health wellns. We’re makg sure that we're lookg broadly at our stunts and their wellns so that we n prevent suici attempts, prevent dg and alhol abe and thgs that really get the way of people succeedg. Wellns is really important. We've got a walkg group, we're lookg at addg some mental health support and partnerg wh PNC to do fancial wellns semars. Lookg forward specifilly to advocy efforts, we're workg on tryg to get hormone replacement therapy through the health center on mp. People our trans muny have had to travel to Akron to get that rource. So, we're workg wh the DeWee Health Center. We've got a long lndry list of thgs that we're always advotg for tryg to make Kent State as clive as possible, and is stunts whobrg those issu to the table. Q: And what do the immediate future look like for the LGBTQ muny at Kent State? KD: There are lots of ways to get volved the g months. Although June is Pri Month, October is LGBTQ History Month, and we have been gearg up. You know, summer is a slower time on mp, and we have been dog some thgs to celebrate Pri, like offerg Safe Space Trag and some other thgs. But October when our stunts are back full force, there will be a slew of activi and programmatic piec. We want to mentn that we will be dog a lot of celebratn as we have our stunts return to mp after summer and as we enter October and LGBTQ History Month. Also, Akron do sPri Ftival Augt (Augt 28). So, we always have a shuttle that helps stunts get to Akron Pri. Class start on Thursday (Augt 26) and then that weekend is Akron Pri. When our stunts get here, they're all exced, and now we n get them to Akron by this shuttle so that they n celebrate Pri. For a lot of stunts, that's their very first Pri event. Pl, there are lots of other ways to get volved the upg months.