OMA searches for LGBT adviser

MOSAIC sold shirts this week as part of MOSAIC Pride Week. Gray said that he wants to make Tulane a more gay-friendly campus. HANNA LIPMAN / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Undergraduate Student Government and the Office of Multicultural Affairs are campaigning to the Provost Office to restore the coordinator position for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students for next year.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs had an LGBT coordinator at the beginning of last year, but he left for personal reasons. Soon thereafter, Tulane instituted head-count stabilization to limit the hiring of new staff members because of financial restraints, preventing the OMA from hiring a replacement.

“Students are very concerned about getting the position back, so they recently did a legislation with USG,” said Carolyn Barber-Pierre, assistant vice president for student affairs. “I also wrote a new proposal to replace the position because things are finally easing up financially for the institution.”

OMA sent its budget request to Mike Hogg, interim vice president of student affairs and dean of students. Hogg then forwarded it to Michael Bernstein, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

“[Bernstein] is a member of the budget work group, and that group reviews all of the requests from the schools and non-academic units that comprise Tulane University,” Hogg said. “The final University budget must fit within the University’s financial resources.”

The proposal will be on the Provost’s agenda when he makes the budget decision within the next two months.

“We have worked over the years to create services to meet the needs of the LGBT community, and ever since we lost that position, there’s been a void in that area,” Barber-Pierre said.

Tommy Gray, MOSAIC executive board member, USG senator and Hullabaloo advertising associate wrote a piece of legislation for USG, and has circulated a petition that urges the administration to hire someone solely dedicated to supporting LGBT life on campus.

Gray researched the kinds of support Tulane’s peer institutions offer and found that many have a student affairs position dedicated to LGBT students.

“Tulane likes to compare itself with schools like Vanderbilt, Duke and Emory and all of them have an LGBT center or an LGBT adviser on campus,” Gray said.

MOSAIC President Evan Landers said the vacancy has made it harder to organize events for MOSAIC, Tulane’s gay-straight alliance.

“The LGBT coordinator was a position that used to work with MOSAIC, and after the position was removed, it became more difficult to operate as an organization,” Landers said. “An adviser makes it easier for an organization to have connections with multiple departments and get more done.”

Gray said he almost transferred to another school because he didn’t feel like there was enough administrative support for LGBT students.

“The lack of a full-time staff position representing LGBT students is indicative of that lack of support,” Gray said. “The only reason I didn’t transfer is because I want to help change the environment here at Tulane.”

The OMA is available to help students if they need assistance, but supporters of an LGBT coordinator say the position is necessary because LGBT problems are often different from the problems of other minorities.

“We’re still in an age where being LGBT is controversial, so there are pressures and anxieties that are specific to LGBT people,” Gray said.

Landers also said that filling the position would be beneficial.

“Because LGBT issues are an important issue in the media these days, an adviser that can work with students to keep them informed on current events would be highly beneficial,” Landers said.

The OMA is committed to providing support to all minority students that need it.

“We have a strong LGBT community on campus, and I feel it’s important to provide the services to meet their needs,” Barber-Pierre said.