An announcement prior to spring break that the LGBTQIA Resource Office would be moved from the Upperman African American Cultural Center into the Women’s and Gender Studies Center (WSRC) in Randall Library provoked an immediate response from students.

Following this response, the decision to move the office was postponed until a more appropriate location could be found.

Appropriateness would be determined by the location, visibility and resourcefulness of the proposed new area.

The announcement was made via Facebook by Dr. Jose Hernandez, Associate Provost of the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. Hernandez posted on the LGBTQIA Resource Office’s closed group Facebook page saying, “The location within the Upperman Center has been a temporary location and we appreciate them for letting the office remain there for this long” etc.

Students were disappointed to hear about this decision on a social networking site. In response to the announcement, students involved with the LGBTQIA office, WSRC and the Upperman Center created groups protesting the move. Some also sent emails to the Chancellor, Provost and Dr. Hernandez.

“Even the most novice of student leaders, much less an experienced administrator, knows that UNCW email is the official means of communication for the university,” said student Joshua Kinchen. “I found it odd that the first ‘official’ notification was via Facebook through a closed group. This only led to the strengthening of the argument that the expedited nature of the relocation/reorganization was to reduce the possibility of an organized student response/protest.”

Several students spoke out against the office being moved to the second floor of Randall Library. Students were concerned about the loss of space for both offices, a possible loss of community among members of these groups and challenges regarding future programming.

Currently, offices included in the Institutional Diversity and Inclusion Office (Upperman African American, Centro Hispano, LGBTQIA Resource, and the Multicultural Office) are located in Fisher Student Union. Only the WSRC is located in Randall Library.

 “As someone who frequents the Upperman African-American Center and LGBTQIA Resource Office on a daily basis, I should have heard another way…Dr. Hernandez would have you believe this decision was planned and discussed openly – it was not. There has been talk of moving the office and connecting more to the WSRC. However, this was supposed to be a move that increased space for both places,” said student Ian Oglesby in an email.

The Facebook groups and protests made by students resulted in media coverage from WECT.

“We’re not against the merge,” said Oglesby, “we’re just against the location.”  

“In terms of the LGBTQIA Resource Center, it is already (located in) a small office and if it is going to be moved then it should increase in size and resources, not be minimized,” said student Lindsey Baker who works with the WSRC and is also involved with the LGBTQIA Center. “Also, the WSRC is inappropriately located as it is. The Women’s Center does not belong in the library. It should be in Fisher as well. Diversity only works best when each office is enriched together.”

“Diversity offices are about offering a sense of community and we’re expected to gain that within a building where we’ll constantly be shh’d,” said student Harley Kelly, a work study student in the LGBTQIA Resource Office.

“Aside from being left out of discussion, we can’t have an interactive community that is vibrant and lively in the library,” said Oglesby.

Some, like Kinchen, believed that the biggest impact would have fallen on the WSRC.

“I feel that there was very little logic in how the relocation or the organizational reorganization, in regards to the LGBTQIA Resource Office and the WSRC, would have benefitted the students or the administrators who were involved with either office. The most caustic consequences of the relocation would have fallen on the WSRC,” said Kinchen.

The WSRC and its director, Dr. Michelle Scatton-Tessier, is in charge of an undergraduate academic minor, a graduate certificate program, a student association and an honor society.

“Being an undergraduate Communication Studies major with a concentration in Organization Communication, even I can recognize that with half the current space and without direct administrative assistant support any program of that size would be difficult to run successfully,” said Kinchen.

Student reactions resulted in a solution based approach meeting hosted by Hernandez and Provost Cathy Barlow.

“In an economic tough time, we have been doing things on campus to reduce cost,” said Provost Barlow. “There are rental spaces off campus that we are in the process of bringing back to campus to save money. As a result, everyone has to scrunch a little.”

A list of offices that are currently being relocated is available on the academic affairs website.

Hernandez didn’t foresee the negative response from students. The move was proposed to return office space to the Upperman Center. The only space Hernandez had available for the LGBTQIA Office was in Randall Library.

“I have staff members that are in the hallway to make space for the LGBTQIA Office,” said director of the Upperman Center, Todd McFadden. “We have been pushing for more space.”

“I never wanted to send a message that we were putting the LGBTQIA Office behind anything else,” said Hernandez. “I failed to anticipate the comfort students felt in the space they have already. This (move) was about space. Space is a tough issue at UNCW.”

Because of the working relationship between the WSRC and the LGBTQIA Office, who frequently host events together, Hernandez said he thought the move would be acceptable but the response from students has changed his position.

“Ideally, I would like to see each office have their own space around the same area, near one another in a central location,” said Hernandez. “I did not communicate the announcement in the best way and I am sorry for that, but we have to move forward.”

Provost Barlow and Hernandez will be assembling small focus groups for students that would help address issues of space and relocation of diversity offices. Barlow hopes to reach a decision before students leave for summer.