Whitman College LGBTQIA+ Student Services records
Scope and Contents
The Whitman College LGBTQIA+ Student Services records contains materials related to LGBTQIA+ programming and resources, dating from 1984 to 2022. These include event flyers, programs, and planning documents. Also included are the meeting materials and correspondence of the Action Against Hate Committee, a campus group which sought to address incidents of biased crime.
Material in the “Whitman College LGBTQ history collection” dates from 1990 to 2017, with the bulk of the material from the 1990s. The collection includes a script by Jimmy Maize ‘02, copies of the Whitman Gay and Lesbian Alumni Newsletters from 1991 to 1996, and the results of a survey of student attitudes about homosexuality. The collection also contains materials from campus and local LGBTQ organizations, including GLA (Gay Lesbian Association), GLBA (Gay- Lesbian-Bisexual Alliance), GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer), Coalition Against Homophobia (CAH), Alternative Lifestyles League (ALL), and Harmony in Togetherness (HIT).
Dates
- 1984-2023
Creator
- Whitman College (Organization)
Biographical / Historical
Prior to 2017, LGBTQIA+ students were informally supported through the counseling center. Counselors Sharon Brown (before 1983) and Sharon Kaufman-Osborn (1983-2019) took an active role in providing services to LGBTQIA+ students. Professors such as Deborah Winter, Tim Jeske, Robert Tobin, and Jose Rambaldi were also integral to building LGBTQ community on campus. In the 1970s and 1980s, programming for LGBTQIA+ students included film screenings and informal discussion groups. By the 1990s, many more opportunities for community and connection existed on campus. Confidential support was available through the Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual Alliance (GLBA, later GLBTQ), events such as DragFest, LesBiGay Week, and Rainbow Rage were organized by the Coalition Against Homophobia, and the David Nord Award was established through the Intercultural Center.
Staff member Jed Schwendiman '92, Professor Susanne Beechey, and staff member Kyle Martz '07 served as advisors to GLBTQ (later PRISM) in the 2000s and 2010s. Schwendiman established the GLBTQ student internship position, and Beechey encouraged GLBTQ to take on a more public role on campus. Whitman established a part-time position dedicated to LGBTQIA+ students, the LGBTQ Resource Coordinator, in 2017. Vari Robinson (2017-2018) and Korin Bradley (2018-2020) were the first to hold the position.
In 2022, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Dr. John Johnson approached Whitman College President Kathy Murray with data showing that the LGBTQIA+ community represented about 30% of Whitman’s student population. Despite being a significant portion of the campus, the community had no full-time staff member dedicated to providing services. President Murray brought this to the attention of the Board of Trustees, who approved the creation of a new position. Rachel Freeman-Cohen was hired as Director of LGBTQIA+ Student Services in July 2022. Duties of the position include events and programming, creating educational content, and leading workshops. The Director of LGBTQIA+ Student Services also sits on the campus-wide Inclusive Excellence Council and leads the David Nord Award Committee.
Extent
0.4 Linear Feet (1 manuscript box, 1 flat file folder)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Whitman College LGBTQIA+ Student Services records date from 1984 to 2022 and contain material related to LGBTQIA+ events, educational resources, student support services, and Whitman LGBTQIA+ history.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Alternative Lifestyle League (ALL) and Harmony In Togetherness (HIT) newsletters were donated by Alex Cofield in 1994. The accession number associated with that donation is retro-0102. Issues of the Whitman Gay and Lesbian Alumni Journal (WGALA) were donated by Mark Scott in 1992. The accession number associated with that donation is retro-0101.
Creator
- Whitman College (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the Whitman College LGBTQIA+ Student Services records
- Author
- River Freemont, Ree Robson
- Date
- 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- 2023: The LGBTQIA+ Student Services records, WCA118, were previously called the Whitman College LGBTQ collection. In 2023, this artificial collection was reorganized to house historical LGBTQ materials for which the provenance is uncertain, as well as the ongoing records of the Director of LGBTQIA+ Student Services. Two additional collections were created from materials previously housed in the legacy collection: the Bob Tobin papers, WCMss557, and the Sharon Kaufman-Osborn papers, WCMss565. Historical research conducted by Ree Robson in 2019 was used extensively in the writing of this finding aid.
Repository Details
Part of the Whitman College and Northwest Archives Repository