Just two years after the American Psychological Association declassified homosexuality as a mental illness, a group of gay students at West Chester University petitioned the state for funding for a new organization to represent its interests, a request that was granted.
Now, 35 years later, the LGBT student organization at the university is still going strong, and preparing to pay homage to its myriad members, who’ve helped advance the mission of the group and the university’s acceptance of the community.
The West Chester University LGBTQA will hold its 35th-anniversary celebration from 7-11 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Holiday Inn at High Street and Route 202 in West Chester.
Dr. Jacqueline Hodes, advisor to the LGBTQA and coordinator of the university’s Office of LGBTQA Services, said more than 100 alumni are expected to converge in West Chester for the event, held in conjunction with the school’s Homecoming Weekend.
After the university’s alumni magazine published an article about the 30th anniversary of the student group five years ago, past graduates and members began reconnecting with the group and many became regular donors. Hodes said that while the anniversary event is meant as a way for alumni to reflect and reminisce on the rich history of the group, it’s also a unique opportunity to raise funds to propel the organization forward.
“We thought this would be a great opportunity to bring people back together and create some goodwill, but also to see who would be willing to help us out in the future,” Hodes said. “We’d love to be able to fund a full-time person [to staff the Office of LGBTQA Services] and to put together scholarship dollars for students and also programmatic monies, so we think this will really help.”
While the West Chester group, which has utilized an array of names throughout its existence — such as the Gay/Straight Alliance, Gay and Lesbian Student Union and Safe Space Alliance — was founded around the same time as LGBT organizations at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania, it was the first in the state to receive state funding.
“A lot of these groups formed at the same time to reinforce each other and network and get a grip on what we were doing, but West Chester was the one that was bold enough to say, OK, if we’re really as good as other groups, then we should get the same funding everyone else gets,” said former member Mike Robinson.
Robinson, who attended West Chester from 1984-98 on a part-time basis for his bachelor’s degree in business administration, was involved with the group throughout his entire tenure with the school, serving as both president and vice president.
He said the organization proved to be a vital resource for LGBT students looking for information on the HIV/AIDS crisis and various LGBT-rights issues.
Although he noted that many students were initially hesitant to take on an active role because they were still in the closet, he was able to witness the development of the group in tandem with the burgeoning overall LGBT community.
“In the ’80s, it was a real oppressive atmosphere from the outside. At that time, the country was at the height of homophobia and antigay sentiment, based on the AIDS crisis,” Robinson said. “But things began to change in the early ’90s, when Clinton was elected and there was this renewed sense of hope.”
As the organization matured, it also became more inclusive of the wider LGBT community.
“As we went along, it became less just about being for lesbians and gays, but more inclusive of the bisexual community and, later, the transgender community,” Robinson said. “It was a step-by-step process.”
In 1994, the school established its Office of LGBTQA Services, which now operates a library, an ally-training program and outreach and awareness-building events, and provides resources and support to the student organization.
Hodes said she’s seen a remarkable shift in the group’s visibility just in her own time at the school, adding that members of the original student organization have described the closeted atmosphere of the 1970s.
“The people who formed the first group were literally hiding in a dorm room for meetings,” she said. “When I came here in 1986, I knew only one other person who was out and that happened to be a faculty member. But in the 24 years I’ve been here, the change has been unbelievable, just astronomical.”
The anniversary celebration will feature a silent auction, raffle, music, food and drinks. Tickets are $35, and alumni also have the option to sponsor a current student who wishes to attend.
For more information, visit www.alumniconnections.com/westchester/ and follow the Events tab or contact Hodes at (610) 436-3147 or [email protected].
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].