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The Essential Value of LGBT Resource Centers

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The Essential Value of LGBT Resource Centers Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData Theses and Dissertations 6-5-2013 The Essential Value of LGBT Resource Centers Matthew Raymond Damschroder Illinois State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd Part of the Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons Recommended Citation Damschroder, Matthew Raymond, "The Essential Value of LGBT Resource Centers" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 446. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/446 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ESSENTIAL VALUE OF LGBT RESOURCE CENTERS Matthew R. Damschroder 464 Pages Through the voices and experiences of LGBTQ+ students on three campuses, this study provides evidence of the essential value of LGBT Centers as they advocate for and empower LGBTQ+ students. Grounded in theories of college student development, identity development, and Queer theory, the qualitative study draws on 35 semi- structured interviews with students and staff involved with LGBT Centers on three campuses that broadly reflect the diversity of higher education in the United States. In particular, the study answers the following questions: What are historical and current contexts of LGBT Centers? What is the nature of campus climate contexts for LGBTQ+ students? Who are the Centers for and what purposes do they serve? What are the policies, programs, services and daily practices around advocacy and identity affirmation? What skills and strategies are taught through Center interaction that help LGBTQ+ students mitigate microaggressions, obstacles and barriers related to identity? The study explores campus climate for LGBTQ+ students, and campus spaces that reflect inclusionary and exclusionary practices. Participants’ experiences of microaggressions and their perceptions of critical counterspaces are described. The study further describes the policies, programs, services and daily practices that embody the value that Centers contribute to campuses. Serving multiple simultaneous and congruent purposes on campus, the data revealed that Center activities fall into two themes: those that primarily support core institutional practices of instruction, education, learning and research: advocacy, ally development, fostering visibility, and assessment; and those that primarily further individual student outcomes: community and counterspace, specialized expertise, advising, leadership development, and providing information, referral and resources. Beyond those activities specifically related to LGBTQ+ identity and the support of those marginalized based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Centers contribute significantly to the development of capacities and skills in students that transcend identity work and development. In particular, participants discussed ways that Center participation fostered professionalism and the ability to work with others in productivity environments. Participants also explored the development of resilience, or strategies that they employ to overcome obstacles to their achievement of desired goals and outcomes. Finally, participants discussed the ways Center involvement cultivated a social justice lens, which participants used to buffer, interpret and understand encounters and interactions with other individuals and experiences of the world. Finally, the study provides additional observations, conclusions and recommendations for future inquiry. Asserting that future Center efforts must coalesce around emerging sexual and gender identity understandings to maintain Center value, purpose and relevance, the author calls on researchers to consider the ways that Centers can and do broaden their influence and impact beyond active users or students whose primary identity development trajectory relates to sexual identity or gender identity. The study also challenges that identity alone may be a less valuable unit of analysis in parsing and understanding participants, their experiences and contributions to research. KEYWORDS: College student development, college students, culture centers, exclusionary practices, gender identity, identity centers, inclusionary practices, intersectionality, LGBT centers, LGBTQ+ students, microaggressions, qualitative inquiry, sexual identity, Student Affairs practice, student development theory, campus climate THE ESSENTIAL VALUE OF LGBT RESOURCE CENTERS MATTHEW R. DAMSCHRODER A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Educational Administration and Foundations ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY 2015 Copyright 2015 Matthew R. Damschroder THE ESSENTIAL VALUE OF LGBT RESOURCE CENTERS MATTHEW R. DAMSCHRODER COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Phyllis McCluskey-Titus, Chair Beth Hatt Pamela Hoff Karla Carney-Hall ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation chair and academic advisor, Dr. Phyllis McCluskey-Titus whose encouragement, mentorship and modeling have contributed considerably to my own process of becoming. The additional faculty who serve on my committee, Beth Hatt and Pamela Hoff have challenged me to grow and develop as a researcher, thinker and writer, and I’m incredibly grateful for their contributions to my education and to this project. My final committee member, Karla Carney-Hall, is both a professional mentor and supervisor. She has helped to shape my practice and thinking, and to provide me with opportunities to apply my academic interests in a practice context. I’m grateful for her advocacy and allyship, and her incredible support of myself and LGBQ+ and TGNC people on my campus. Likewise, Kathy Cavins-Tull was the supervisor who first encouraged me to consider doctoral study, and made my own professional development through this academic journey a possibility and a priority. I continue to look to her for guidance and direction, and to ask in almost any situation WWKCD? Additionally, I’m thankful for the generosity of my campus research hosts, and the staff and students who contributed their voices and experiences to my research. It was an honor to hear your stories and to share them in this project. I hope I have honored my participants and used their willingness to contribute to help promote the change we all i know is necessary for full social participation of those marginalized by sexual and gender identity. I’m grateful for the incredible faculty in my doctoral department, Educational Administration and Foundations, for their energies and kind attentions on my behalf. My experiences as a Redbird have been personally and professionally formative in ways I’m sure I will never fully grasp, and the influence and impact of these incredible minds will continue to flow through me as I go out in the world and apply my knowledge. Finally, I would be remiss not to acknowledge the amazing students and colleagues on my home campus, Illinois Wesleyan University, who have given me opportunities to serve and practice, to grow my skills, and to apply my coursework. I love my Titans, I adore this alma mater, and I celebrate #TGOE! On a more personal note my parents Bruce and Deanne raised me with critical values, shaping me to value education and lifelong learning. There was no greater gift that I’ve received than a love of reading and writing and thinking. I’m also thankful for all the friends and family who have provided support and encouragement to me in this process. Darcy and Sandi, in particular, have been with me on every step of this journey. I am humble and grateful for all of these incredible connections and influences. I hope to spend the rest of my life paying forward the educational opportunity that I’ve been afforded. M.R.D. ii CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i CONTENTS iii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1 Background 1 Statement of the Problem 4 Campus Climate 5 Campus Climate and LGBTQ+ Identity Development 8 Movement Towards LGBT Resource Centers 11 Efficacy of LGBT Resource Centers 13 Purpose of the Study 16 Research Questions 17 Conceptual/Theoretical Framework 17 Significance of Study 18 Definitions 19 Terms Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 19 Terms Related to Research and Methodology 22 Assumptions 23 Summary 23 II. REVIEW OF RELATED MATERIAL 25 Introduction 25 Theories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Identity Development 25 Theories of College Student Development 39 Queer Theory 45 iii Microaggressions 47 Defining and Categorizing Microaggressions 48 Psychological Dilemmas 49 Health and Emotional Consequences 52 Differing Manifestations of Identity-Affiliated Microaggressions 53 The Value of Counterspaces 55 Culture Centers 62 The Value of Culture Centers 63 The tendency of cultural centers to divide 63 The limited scope of culture center benefits 64 The social focus of culture centers 65 The perceived social parity or institutional success of some identity groups 65 The push for a multicultural model 66 The Roles and Efficacy of Culture Centers 70 Research on Black Culture Centers 71 Research on Women’s Centers and others targeting gender 73 Research on centers serving additional campus cohorts 77 Research on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Centers 82 Summary 86 III. RESEARCH DESIGN 87 Research Procedures
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