Frequently Asked Questions

The Ohio Wesleyan University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer/Questioning Resource Center, while not directly linked to other LGBTIQA organizations, is in close contact with such groups as Columbus Stonewall and P-Flag (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). The Center keeps contacts with many other local and national groups through Internet access, news letters and other correspondence.

The Resource Center also works to interact with other LGBTIQA organizations on nearby campuses, networking to share information and promote a positive relationship with other groups sharing the same cause.

Here at Ohio Wesleyan, the Resource Center’s interaction with PRIDE, the lesbigay activist student organization on campus, helps bring together the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer/questioning population on campus. While PRIDE works primarily as a social and activist group, the Resource Center operates on a more education-specific level, providing reference materials and support on an individual basis.

While resources and information are available at Ohio Wesleyan in a variety of places (e.g. Beeghly Library, Counseling Services, Student Activities), there exists no nexus for bringing these disparate facilities together on the topics of gender and sexuality. The Spectrum Resource Center meets this need. The Center houses a variety of books, pamphlets, magazines, and videos on LGBTIQA-related issues and topics that are readily available for use by the campus community. The Center also provides a trained staff capable of assisting students in dealing with personal issues or with personal issues beyond the scope of the Center: counseling, STD testing, social alternatives, mentoring.

A safe zone is a place where students, faculty, and staff can come and speak confidentially about personal issues without fear of being judged. The Resource Center offers peer support to persons in need of an understanding environment.

The Spectrum Resource Center provides a useful source of information for the incorporation of LGBTIQA issues into curricular and co-curricular learning. The Resource Center provides reference materials for research and paper writing, as well as active, informed interns who can assist students and professors in researching LGBTIQA-related topics. The Center also can assist professors in ways to approach LGBTIQA issues and student attitudes toward them in a classroom setting. Such information is necessarily of an interdisciplinary nature and potentially relevant to all areas of the curriculum, helping to enrich the diversity and quality of instruction at OWU.

Beyond its functional value, the Spectrum Resource Center at Ohio Wesleyan is of great symbolic importance. By supporting such a center, Ohio Wesleyan makes a clear statement that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer/questioning persons are welcomed and respected as part of the University community. The Resource Center reflects a commitment to diversity generally, as well as a dedication to educating students about the world beyond the classroom.