By Grae Gleason, Contributor
Increasing student attendance prompted renovations to KSU’s GLBTIQ Resource Center between Sept. 2 and Sept. 12.
Prior to renovations, GLBTIQ Resource Center Coordinator Jessica Duvall described the center as too small to accommodate the number of student visits. The number of student visits, which reached nearly 40 percent of all spring 2014’s visits in only the first two weeks of the current semester, prompted action to make the center accessible for larger groups.
“Even with five students in there, it became very crowded very quickly. Students were sitting on the floor, backpacks were in the way, or they were pulling chairs out of my office to get more students in there—which is great. But that was really a big part of [the renovations],” Duvall said.
Despite no expansion to the space, several changes promise to make the center more efficient and open for students. Space efficient furniture and a new layout ensure more space for the increasing amount of students that take advantage of the center.
Additional renovations include a new television and a freshly painted KSU gold wall that delivers a dose of school spirit to the center. As Duvall notes, the addition of a television to the center will allow students to view documentaries and engage in “critical conversation.”
For many students, the center stands as a vital GLBTIQ community space. Concerns
about accommodating these students worried Duvall, as well as local LGBT figures. As Kennesaw Pride Alliance President (KPA) Tyler Keesee mentioned, the center represents an important environment for GLBTIQ students.
“The GLBTIQ Resource Center really is like a home base for LGBT [students]. I feel as though [the center] is more of a safe zone for people to go and communicate and study and branch out, start networking,” Keesee said.
While renovations closed the center between Sept. 2 and Sept. 12, the KPA cubicle on the third floor of the Carmichael Student Center served as a makeshift meeting ground for LGBT students. Fran Patrick, vice president of KPA, described how those who rely on the center’s welcoming atmosphere squeezed into the KPA cubicle until the GLBTIQ Resource Center reopened on Sept. 15.
“Since the renovations have been going on, we’ve been inviting everyone that wants to come to our cube, because a lot of students don’t have anywhere to hang out and don’t know what to do with themselves when [the center] is closed,” Patrick said.
Now prepared to welcome more curious students, the GLBTIQ Resource Center offers a safe space for all LGBT students. In Keesee’s words, “It’s okay to be out on campus. It’s not—hopefully it’s not— that big of a deal.”
