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Identity Centers
Colleges and Universities have greatly improved in the last few decades towards more progressive and safe college campuses. However, many college students still experience social isolation, violence, and even harassment due to their sexual differences or gender. The identity centers are essential in college campuses since they provide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and also female students with funds that help to improve their experience. These LGBT and female identity centers have a task to stamp out discrimination on campuses. The universities also fund these identity centers and even fully managed by the professionals. They operate within a without the campuses depending on the school.
Furthermore, the identity centers also have a function to enhance the awareness and support for the LGBT and female students. This means that they have a responsibility to advocate for the rights of both women and also LGBT student’s rights. The centers, therefore, are responsible for the well-being of the LGBT and female students within and even outside school. This article will discuss the history, importance, utility of the identity centers in the college campuses. It will also give a verdict on whether the centers do matter or not to the college campuses.
History of Identity Centers
Studies have shown that the African, FIRST, Latino, Asian American, LGBT, and women’s centers have long history activism in students and also in engagement that has played an essential role in the development of the centers. The Africana Centers were founded in Tufts in 1969 (Davies, 2002). This was after the students protested against the suspected racism in hiring practices of the company that built Lewis Hall. This later led to the demonstration to form the Afro-American Studies Department as an identity center that advocated against the discrimination of African students. The Asian American Center, on the other hand, was also found in Tufts in 1983. This was after the racist incident against the people who lived in the Asian American House. This led to the creation of the Asian Student Center later in July 1983 as a resource for the Asian and Asian American Students. The purpose of the identity center was to pay attention to the needs of Asian students. The LGBT center was founded in September 1992 at Tufts. The gay community was, however, was first formed in spring 1972 but was later expanded in to involve the lesbian and bisexual students. The center had the responsibility to fight for the improvement of the LGBT lives at Tufts. Like the Gay community, the women’s center was also founded in 1972 at Tuft and was first established as a student group by the TCU senate in 1972 and also given space by the campus. The women’s center played a significant role in women’s center programming. This included women’s activism, peer education, and also the prevention of violence.
The identity centers have an excellent utility for the students. This is because the identity center provides the students with an excellent place to hang out, rest, do homework, host club meetings, and also have other gatherings. The identity centers do not only offer the students a physical space where they carry out various activities but also gives the students a judgment-free space where the students are free and also be themselves. This is because the students of the same identities meet at the same identity center. This makes the students feel a sense of inclusion and also gives the best form of interaction since they have the same identity; hence they have a good sense of understanding each other.
Identity centers on college campuses make a significant difference in the learning of the students. This is because the identity centers pose leadership development, cultural identity, sense of community, and even a sense of mattering. These are components of engagement that are necessary for the process of learning. This is because the culture centers in higher education provide an outlet for healthy expression. The centers also give a representation of the identity of the members of a specific group. In cases of cultural centers, they have essential in making the ethnic minority group of students have an efficient way of expressing themselves. The minority ethnic groups of students also get a way that they are represented in the school. This is important for the students in colleges since expression and representation ensure that their welfare is taken care of; hence the students will have ample time for learning. This, therefore, shows that the identity centers have a considerable contribution towards making a conducive learning process and environment for the students.
The identity centers are also important since they provide the students with support, information, and even fun for college students. The identity centers in college campuses mainly comprise of the student groups. These groups, on the other hand, consists of students that have the same resource which the students get the information from. Furthermore, these groups are run by and for the students and their colleagues that can be connected within the campus center. These groups, therefore, have three purposes that are to socialize, support, or activist use. The activist mainly educates and also influencing the rest of the community on the campus. The social and the support, on the other hand, have the purpose of establishing the recognition of the LGBT and the female on the campus. This is because, even though the LGBT students are recognized in the College campuses in The United States, they remain the sexual-orientation and gender identity minority. This is because they are a minor group as compared to the other groups of students. They, therefore, become targets for discrimination and oppression by the other students and also those in power in schools. The identity centers, therefore, serves as the activists since they educate the LGBT students on their constitutional rights. They also offer support to the students since they protect them against any form of discrimination against them. The identity centers are, therefore, of great significance in the college campuses more so in the recognition protection of LGBT students as a minority against any form of discrimination.
The identity centers have played a role in the retention of students from minorities in schools such as racial or ethnic groups. Even though there is a significant increase in the students of colors on their campuses, there is still a considerable gap that still exists between their success and their persistence. There is also a big gap between the enrollment of the minority and non-minority students. This makes the college campuses to be predominantly white while the black students are the minority group. The minority groups, therefore, becomes a vulnerable group to the discrimination from the majority groups.
Moreover, college students also who come from low-income families become minority groups. Since these minority groups become the target for discrimination from the majority, they face difficulties that initially made most of them drop out schools. This caused poor transitioning and also low success population among the minority groups as compared to majority groups. Luckily, the identity centers have had a positive impact on the retention of these students in college students. This is because the center advocates against the discrimination against these students, which make their lives at schools to be smooth despite them being the minority groups. The centers also offer financial support to the students that come from low-income families. This enables them to have suitable welfare while in school and therefore have a low chance of dropping out of school.
The identity centers do matter in the college campuses. This is because the centers mainly are in support of the minority communities in school since they are the vulnerable groups. Identity centers also improve the situation of the minority identities at college campuses since they solve their problems and give them solutions. This makes the minority students have their individual needs solved and therefore have an easy time at school. This, thus, shows that the identity centers are essential and matters on the campuses since, through it, the minority students gain access to higher education.
Moreover, the identity centers unite the campuses rather than divide them. People have a common belief that the identity centers divide a school; however, these centers exist as a result of divisions on the campuses. This division makes students fall out of the definition of normal to have no sense of a community or even a space on the campus. This would make the students start feeling uncomfortable on the campuses and might drop out of the students. The identity centers thus have a great significance in making minority identities to have a sense of belonging in the campus community.
References
Davie, S. L. (2002). University and College Women’s Centers: A Journal Toward Equity.