This past October marked the 30th anniversary of Eastern Michigan University’s (EMU) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center (LGBTRC), and staff have been celebrating by reflecting on the center's historical impact on both the EMU and Ypsilanti communities.

"When the space was created, it was put in a small room in a building that doesn’t exist anymore," says Emma Wuetrich, the center's program coordinator. "Now, we’re in the same building that admissions is in, which really shows us that the university must believe in the importance of the LGBTRC."

Wuetrich curated an exhibit about the center in partnership with the EMU Oral History Program, which ran Oct. 1-5 in celebration both of the LGBTRC’s milestone and National LGBTQ+ History Month. She's also been curating a series of oral histories with major figures from the center's past.

Wuetrich explains that throughout her work in higher education and supporting LGBTQ+ students, she has always been interested in the history of LGBTQ+ resources on the campuses where she’s worked. As an EMU alum, she already had an idea of what the LGBTRC’s beginnings looked like. But her research ultimately led her to record interviews with former EMU Student Affairs administrators Gregory Peoples and Glenna Frank Miller, who worked with faculty and other administrators to make the LGBTRC a permanent fixture on EMU’s campus, and former LGBTRC Coordinators Kate Brindle and Mary Larkin, who helped to shape the center into what it is today. Wuetrich says administrative support was integral to growing the center, and the development of the coordinator position was crucial to supporting LGBTQ+ students and kickstarting conversations around changing campus policies to further enhance their college experience.
Doug CoombeEMU LGBTRC Program Coordinator Emma Wuetrich.
"The position of program coordinator revolves with what the greatest student needs are," Wuetrich says. "I came in after a lot of different campus advocacy projects had already been installed, and now we’re onto the next pieces, like walking students through what gender-affirming care is covered by health insurance and preserving student dignity when it comes to dead names on class rosters."

Also included in the oral histories are current faculty members Kate Mehuron and Dennis O’Grady, who were both a part of the initial gay rights faculty group that preceded the official LGBTRC and ultimately led to its creation. Mehuron, a professor of philosophy in EMU’s History and Philosophy department, says that while she wasn’t concerned that her identity wouldn’t be accepted by her peers or other campus staff, she initially had a hard time finding other faculty members on campus who shared her lived experience.

"When I came here in 1989, I felt sure that I would be accepted as a member of the LGBT community, but I also felt really isolated since I didn’t know any other faculty member who was out," Mehuron says. "Making friends with colleagues across campus who wanted to lower isolation and make the campus more visibly welcoming to LGBT students set us off on a big course that led to campus policy changes and the development of the resource center."

O’Grady, a professor of communication, had a similar experience coming to EMU’s campus in the early '90s. He says that even during his job interview process, he was told, "If you are racist, sexist, or homophobic, this is not the place for you." But at the same time, he also noticed a lack of a dedicated space for LGBTQ+ folks on campus, leading to the same feeling of isolation that Mehuron described.
Doug CoombeEMU Professor Dennis O'Grady.
"You could tell there was a need for students to meet each other and form a community," O'Grady says.

The group consisted of eight openly LGBTQ+ faculty members including Mehuron and O’Grady, who began working with Miller and Peoples to develop better nondiscriminatory policies on campus to improve both students' and faculty's experience. The group also launched a campaign to personally deliver rainbow stickers to every faculty member on campus, which they could choose to display in their office windows to show LGBTQ+ students they were a "safe space," according to Mehuron.

The LGBTRC as a fixed location on campus came soon after, with the first part-time coordinator hired in 1994. The position became full-time in 2001, which Wuetrich feels was a key step in establishing the center’s credibility on campus. The faculty group, in tandem with the LGBTRC, also helped to enact change in the greater Ypsi area when Ypsilanti Standard Printing refused to print materials for LGBTQ+ events on religious grounds. In 1997 the faculty group worked alongside local LGBTQ+ and ally residents to advocate for Ypsilanti City Council's passage of a non-discrimination ordinance, which still exists today.

"The resource center has worked very hard to help people understand the current issues students are facing, and why they’re important," Mehuron says. "There’s a lot of education coming out of the center, even just education by example, and we have always supported student activism on campus.

The resource center is constantly developing new programming and organizing events based on student feedback and needs. Its efforts include tabling at the Student Center to inform students and faculty on how to be a better ally to trans students, hosting a "gender-affirming clothing closet" where students can donate or pick up free clothes, and community-building events like craft nights. 
Doug CoombeEMU Professor Kate Mehuron.
Many of the center's events have been around for almost 20 years and continue today. These include the Welcome Back BB-Queer, where incoming LGBTQ+ students can meet one another and enjoy a free meal; the Lavender Graduation ceremony, which seeks to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of LGBTQ+ graduating students each year; and Pride Prom. Wuetrich says LGBTQ+ students find the center in a variety of ways, and public events help make some students feel more welcome.

"Some students seek us out right away, some students volunteer, some students just come to one event," Wuetrich explains. "But there are plenty of folks who are queer on campus and don’t engage with the center because there are so many queer spaces on campus. Not every college campus is like that."

Although the faculty group that preceded the resource center no longer exists on campus, that hasn’t stopped Mehuron or O'Grady from finding additional ways to provide support to LGBTQ+ students across campus. One of those avenues is the Stonewall Scholarship, which Mehuron and O’Grady co-founded after the faculty group fundraised $60,000 in the late '90s. The scholarship, named after the historic 1969 Stonewall riots in New York, is awarded to "a student who demonstrates leadership and/or involvement in organizations, activities or issues that promote a positive gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer environment," according to EMU’s website. 

O’Grady explains that the scholarship was named to be recognizable to students who are passionate about queer activism, both to encourage more students to apply and as another method of de-stigmatization and bolstering community on campus. He says many scholarship applicants are "heavily involved" with the resource center, and their applications show the impact of the center's presence and programming on campus.

"We get applications from students who work at the center or are heavily involved with it, and that’s where I see how the center’s work is changing student lives," O’Grady says. "Students are not only able to benefit from the center themselves, but also by giving back to other students. Even just the center’s presence makes a difference."
Doug CoombeEMU Professors Kate Mehuron and Dennis O'Grady at EMU's Student Center.
Both O’Grady and Mehuron say that with more visibility and time, students in their respective classes have become more open and impassioned about their LGBTQ+ identities and the struggles their community currently faces. While they both are thankful for the resource center’s existence and campus administration’s support for it, they also hope to work alongside Wuetrich more to raise awareness for the Stonewall Scholarship, and to see the resource center’s reach continue to grow beyond the confines of EMU’s campus, much as it did in the '90s.

"The value of something like this is validating student experience, saying that we see you and you are important to us," O’Grady says. "The resource center growing from part-time to full-time, providing scholarships, and all of their programming has become a really valuable part of campus life for students as well as a number of staff members."

"I think in the past the center having events here on campus has helped students see that they’re a part of a really cool and big community," Mehuron says. "This is an incredibly special location here in Ypsilanti. It’s great to see faculty, students, and staff come together and celebrate the community."

More information about the LGBTRC and its current programs is available here. Current EMU students interested in learning more about the Stonewall Scholarship can find information here. Wuetrich’s interviews with Mehuron, O’Grady and other key figures in the development of the center can be accessed via the QR codes at this link.

"No matter how much progress is made nationally, there’s always more work to be done,"  Wuetrich says. "There will always be a stream of folks looking for aid to support them, and it’s important for us to continually find new resources to support students’ life-long journey regarding their identity."

Rylee Barnsdale is a Michigan native and longtime Washtenaw County resident. She wants to use her journalistic experience from her time at Eastern Michigan University writing for the Eastern Echo to tell the stories of Washtenaw County residents that need to be heard.

Photos by Doug Coombe.