The UW-Madison LGBT Campus Center has recently proposed a name change in light of the center’s 25th birthday.
The new name is intended to be more reflective of contemporary language and inclusive of all identities.
“It was a good time because of the 25th anniversary. We thought that people would be looking forward on how we can continue to really serve people,” said interim Assistant Dean and Director, Katherine Charek Briggs.
It would be the second time the center has undergone a name change. It was originally called the LGB Campus Center at its founding in 1992, and the T was later added in the late 1990s. The current change has comes after long time discussions and critiques of the campus center’s current name.
“It’s been an ongoing conversation for years, the fact that the name doesn’t really reflect the language that people are currently using,” Briggs said.
The center’s staff have proposed the name “Gender and Sexuality Spectrum Center,” which includes commonly used language at many universities according to a report released by the campus center.
“We decided acronyms are not a good fit because language changes so often, acronyms inevitably leave someone out,” Briggs said. “We thought the words ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’ would be more legible to international students, so it also increases access that way. The students and staff were interested in adding the term ‘spectrum’ to it because it really elevates that we’re looking at identities across the spectrum. We want to open up the space and let folks know they can come through no matter what their individual experiences are.”
The center will be holding drop-in feedback sessions to discuss the name change on November 29 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm and December 5 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm at the center and December 7 11:30am to 1:00pm at the Multicultural Student Center. The session are open to all.
“We recognize that we started this as an internal process so there is just always pieces that are missing,” Briggs said. “We want everyone to feel agency over the process and ownership over the new name.”
The official new name of the campus center is expected be finalized in January followed by a slow rollout over the semester including a new center logo and promotional materials. The name is expected to be officially instituted at the 2018 Rainbow Graduation ceremony.
