New LGBTQ Center to Open in Benson

By Anayo Awuzie

Colors of red, purple, green and everything in between will be visible at Santa Clara University when the new Rainbow Center opens in downstairs Benson.

The Center, which is going to be a multipurpose room and center for students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning is meant to be a safe space where students, faculty and staff can find resources specifically tailored for their needs.

Junior Kyle Arrouzet was one of the first student advocates of this project and helped shape the original vision of what the Rainbow Center was going to provide to the Santa Clara community.

"Our vision was essentially a space that would bring together all of the different LGBTQ groups on campus because right now they're kind of nomadic," said Arrouzet. "We want to create a sense of community because that does kind of lack for LGBTQ students on our campus right now. The last thing was to create a public face for the community because in my experience and in some other's experiences, unless you happen to stumble across somebody who's a part of that community already, it's hard to find."

The Rainbow Center is not necessarily a new idea; the proposal was submitted over three years ago.

Members of the Center's committee said there were no roadblocks, controversies or issues in terms of bringing the idea to members of the administration, who were on board with the concept. The only minor struggle mentioned was the process of creating and submitting a proposal to administration.

"It's a pretty extensive document. It was really a matter of getting a mission and hammering it out. There are a lot of similar centers at different universities, but we wanted to tailor ours to what we want to accomplish within the Santa Clara community. So that was a big part, and then it was just us imagining what the center might become," said senior Andrew Hodun, director of the Santa Clara Community Action Program and one of the helping hands in making the Rainbow Center a reality.

Arrouzet said he worked in conjunction with Counseling and Psychological Services counselor Don Capone as well as a few students who have now graduated, to draft the proposal to be presented to the administration. Since then, a core group of nine students, faculty and alumni have been working to finalize the logistics and are now seeing the results.

Senior Program Coordinator of Gay and Straight People for the Education of Diversity Pearl Wong said that there hasn't been controversy yet, but they are prepared for it.

"I haven't heard anything negative about this, but we are prepared and we are aware that with the way Santa Clara University is situated it does make it a possibility. We're open to it. People who we are trying to recruit to volunteer for the Center, we tell them very explicitly that they will get safe space training. As LGBT students, you never know who you're going to bump into and something might happen, you just have to be aware," she says.

"(LGBTQ students) need a safe space on campus, just as the students of color can find solace in the Multicultural Center," said senior Kristyn Heath. "I think it is a great idea and it goes along with Santa Clara's idea of inclusive excellence."

But the Center is still waiting for an official opening date.

"We don't have an official date yet. It's a student-run space so once we get that foundation built, in terms of how operations are going to look, we'll then get a date that we can announce," said Mary Ho, a member of the Inclusive Excellence committee and one of the faculty members involved with the Rainbow Center's creation.

Although there is no date set, students and faculty involved in the project are aiming for it to be open by the end of this quarter.

Contact Anayo Awuzie at aawuzie@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.