Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 07:26:08 -0500 (CDT) From: Kevyn D Jacobs Subject: WASHBURN REVIEW: students form campus group REPRINTED FROM THE WASHBURN REVIEW (WU'S STUDENT PAPER) OCTOBER 21, 1994 [REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION] WASHBURN STUDENTS OBSERVE NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY, FORM CAMPUS SUPPORT GROUP by Jaime Cooper The International Gay and Lesbian community declared Oct. 11 "National Coming Out Day" and students at Washburn met to offer support and discuss plans concerning an organized group they are working to establish. Doug Glaze, WU student, said he helped organize the group due to the expressed student interest. "It was just a matter of getting the process started. I could write a book on why it's needed," Glaze said, "but it basically boils down to the fact that there is discrimination against gays and lesbians in society and that discrimination transfers to gay and lesbian students. We believe we should be treated equally." The group is called Project Equal and Glaze said he hopes to see the group positively impact the Washburn community. "We hope to provide a supportive atmosphere for gays and lesbians on campus so that they have available resources for projects or problems that may arise," Glaze said. "We're going to provide educational activities for gays and lesbians on campus as well as educational activities for the Washburn community in general." The group discussed various ideas about the role they would like to take on campus and went over business information concerning the forming of a student group. Students had differing reasons as to why they attended the meeting. "The main reason I came is to address issues of censorship and education on Washburn's campus," Jeri, a WU student, said. "There is something positive happening here that should have happened a long time ago." Travis, another student in attendance, agreed that it is a positive move toward equality. "I thought it was really neat to finally see a gay and lesbian group," he said. "It's good for people who are away from home for the first time to have the support and be able to live their lives the way that they choose." Most students agreed that the group will be beneficial to them personally and to the Washburn community. "I just want people to know that just because we're gay, there's no reason to fear us," Jeri said. "We're just like everybody else. We look the same, talk the same, we're people." Travis added that the group will provide a safety-net for homosexual students. "I also think it would do a lot of people on campus good," he said," to see that the gay world is not this sex-craved deprived freak show that mainstream society has portrayed." Dr. Nancie Palmer from the Social Work department and History Professor Bill Cecil-Fronsman recently agreed to sponsor the Project Equal organization. ============================================================== Reprinted to QRD with Verbal Permission of WR Editor Stephanie Taylor Kevyn Jacobs 11.1.94 Phone Conversation