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Running head: GENDER AND SEXUALITY RESOURCE CENTER

Gender and Sexuality Resource Center: The Accessibility from an Outsider Looking In
Nick Brautigam
Northern Illinois University

The feeling of comfort and acceptance on college campuses can be important aspects for
the student experience. Campuses have a wide range of diverse students that have specific needs.
In order for colleges to provide the best overall experience to these individuals, it is crucial to
have the proper resources and support groups. Our group took a look at the Gender and Sexuality
Resource Center here on campus at Northern Illinois University. This is an important resource
for numerous individuals that seek similar support and have interests here on campus.
Our goal with this project was to examine in what ways and how well the GSRCs
website supports the population it identifies in its mission as its target population. We felt that it
was important to focus on the website because it is often the first place most students, faculty,
staff, and family members will go to learn about the resources of a particular department. As we
researched the website, we started our focus on the mission in which they believe in. The page
that their mission is stated and explained to viewers is one of the more convenient and
informative aspects of the website. The mission in which the GSRC strives for according to their

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website, includes statements such as that they acknowledge the historical impacts of women and
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer identities. We are a home away from home for
all persons, inclusive of sexual and gender identities, and all forms of masculinity and
femininity (n.p.). The GSRC website goes on to explain how and with whom they strive to
achieve a feeling of home away from home later in their mission. By attempting to serve as the
central location for the individuals seeking this home, their mission on the website further
states how they accomplish this through student leadership development, advocacy, campus and
academic engagement, and professional development opportunities, we collaborate with
community, state, and national partners, alumni, and other stakeholders to challenge societal
constructs of gender and sexuality norms and promote social justice (n.p.). The attempt to bring
people together from different backgrounds in hopes of finding similarities can go a long way.
According to Kincheloe and Steinberg (1997), Students, workers and other individuals who
belong to divergent socio-economic groups can learn much from one another if provided a space
to exchange ideas and analyse mutual difficulties (p. 43).
In relation to the GSRCs website and its respective mission, there are factors that we felt
could have been included. The website hits on how they are inclusive of sexual and gender
identities, but when we dug deeper into this, the mutual feeling was that there is a lack of specific
explanations. It is a positive aspect that they explain how the GSRC is inclusive, but perhaps
adding all identities could help. The mission states that they serve LGBTQ individuals, but
throughout our findings, we felt that the queer community gets left out at times. An example of
this can be found within their awards and scholarships section. The website states that NIU offers
several types of recognition on behalf of the LGBT community rather than LGBTQ community.
Another group that seems to be neglected within the website it the trans community. I will note
that they have a section for trans individuals, but it does not show much about how well trans

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individuals are supported on campus. In relation to this, I will give them credit that they do
provide a resource for them called Transitions. They define Transitions as being for gender nonconforming community members to gather together in a safe space. The primary goal of this
group is to combine socializing and community building, as well as dispersing knowledge and
promoting discussion (n.p.).
When participating in the research of a specific subject, it is important to learn and
understand the history behind the material. Becoming familiar with where the history derives
from helped us better understand how the GSRC came about. Throughout our research, we found
that in 2013 and 2014 were the years in which the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center came
to be. During this period of time, NIU combined the Womens Resource Center and the LGBT
Resource Center to create the GSRC. The website explains that the purpose of this transition was
to combine two interconnected departments and create a space that was more inclusive and
sustainable.
Campus culture and visual representation can intrigue or deter an individual from
pursuing interest in whatever it is that they are reviewing. The GSRCs website provides a bit of
information along with a headshot of the people in charge of the center. This is better than
nothing at all, but a picture with a phone number and an email address is the extent of
information given. When we compared this to other GSRC websites, it was obvious that NIU
was behind majority of other campuses. Other campuses such as Carleton College provide all of
the information listed above, but also go as far as to give background information of the
individual along with educational degrees, interests, where they are from, and future plans.
Another aspect that NIU lacks that we found is provided elsewhere is a pronouns section within
the faculty and staff bio page. The GSRCs website lack visual pictures of diversity and
inclusion. There are not many pictures other than the headshots of the faculty and staff. Another

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key aspect that we found NIU lacks compared to other campuses is the representation of gender
neutral bathrooms. Other campuses not only explain where an individual can find these
bathrooms, but also provide a visual map of these locations. We could not find any information
about locations of gender neutral bathrooms in which NIU provides. In relation to this specific
situation, our book talked about a similarity at UC-Santa Barbara. Chess, Kafer, Quiar, and
Richardson (2013) write about how they eventually hope to have both web-based and printed
maps of all the bathrooms on campus, with each facility coded as its accessibility and gendersafety at UC-Santa Barbara.
The last aspect we attempted to research was the accessibility of the website. The
GSRCs website is very misleading and confusing at times. There are not many links that are
direct and to the point. Many of the links available to click on lead us to a number of further
clicks in order to find what we were looking for. For example, the top of the website provides
about five pictures that illustrate events taking place. The only problem is that when we tried to
click on them, it never took us to the page with the information about the event. When we
searched for a safe space for allies to learn how to be a better ally, we found that the Ally Finder
was out of date and the only Ally resource was training and awards. This is a crucial part to the
overall well being of a campus. The need for an effective Ally has many positives due to the
mentor and facilitator aspect it could bring. Adams et al. (2013) states that the definition of an
ally is a person who is a member of the dominant or majority group who works to end
oppression in his or her personal and professional life through support of, and as an advocate
with and for, the oppressed population (p. 413). In regards to accessibility being out of date
throughout the website, the most irritating part was the calendar link. When we were on the
GSRCs website attempting to view their calendar of events, the link took us to the NIU calendar

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rather than having a specific calendar for themselves. The problem we found with this was it is
not only confusing, but NIU does not usually list the events taking place at the GSRC.
The GSRC shows a great amount of inclusion when it comes to the aspect of
multiculturalism, social justice, and diversity. There are times where the statements or visual
illustrations are general, but with that being said, the GSRC does a great job of connecting with
various types of identities. Whether it be race, gender, or sexuality, their website hits on a wide
range of differences throughout the links and information. The GSRC makes it obvious that they
do not discriminate and welcome all individuals interested. By viewing their website, it is known
that the GSRC is for equal opportunity for all groups, by being open minded and not assuming or
judging the individual. The GSRC seems to be a great multicultural resource due to the many sub
groups it welcomes. This is made clear when they state the collaborative community partners
they include and support. A couple of the community partners in which they state on their
website are the Asian American Center, Center for Black Studies, and the Latino Resource
Center. This alone proves that the GSRC involves and implements many of the aspects that come
from within diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice.

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References
Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W.J., Castaneda, C., Hackaman, H.W., Peters, M.L., & Zuniga, X
(Eds.) Readings for diversity and social justice, 3rd edition. New York: Routledge.
Kincheloe, J. and Steinberg, S. (1997). Changing multiculturalism. Open University:
Buckingham.
Northern Illinois University. (2016). About us.
Retrieved from
http://niu.edu/gsrc/about_us/index.shtml