Over the past few months, many LGBTQ college students have lost the campus spaces they relied on for resources, affirmation, and peer support.
That’s because public colleges in several states are now subject to laws that ban diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — including programs, trainings, and other activities aimed at students from specific identity groups. In Texas, state institutions closed campus centers dedicated to the success of students of color and LGBTQ students. Some reopened as offices dedicated to student support without reference to particular identities; the University of Texas at Austin’s Gender and Sexuality Center rebranded as the Women’s Community Center.
When the University of Houston eliminated its LGBTQ resource center, an LGBTQ club at nearby Rice University opened its doors to affected students.
Rice PRIDE invited students at Houston and other Texas public colleges to register for honorary membership in the group, which, by virtue of being student-run and at a private college, was not subject to the new law. The organization hosts programs aimed at LGBTQ students and staffs Rice’s Queer Resource Center. Rice PRIDE leaders say they don’t know of another student organization that’s made this kind of offer.
As more states restrict the kinds of programs college employees can organize, students will more often carry the burden of cultivating a sense of belonging on campus. For LGBTQ students, who report worse mental health and greater mistreatment in college than their non-LGBTQ peers, that community is crucial.
Rice PRIDE’s leaders, Cole Holladay, a junior from rural Texas, and Jorge Arnez Gonzales, a junior from Bolivia, spoke to The Chronicle recently about their decision to extend honorary membership to students around the state, and how student leaders are filling the gaps left by the closure of identity-based spaces. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you two choose Rice? Was its being LGBTQ friendly a factor at all?
Arnez Gonzales: It definitely was a factor because my high school was very homophobic and the teachers barely did anything regarding that, and neither did the administration. Obviously there were other factors that would have taken much more priority, like the financial aspect. Fortunately, Rice does give very generous financial aid to international students.
Holladay: A big part of my college search was looking to see what kind of organizations like schools offered, because I knew that I wanted to be involved. Seeing that they had Rice PRIDE and that they had a Queer Resource Center, it made it much more attractive for me.
How did you both decide to open up your club to people at other colleges?
Holladay: Being a student organization and knowing that we run our Queer Resource Center entirely by ourselves, we knew that we had the flexibility to do something, and so we didn’t really see any reason not to. It wasn’t until U of H students actually started protesting the closing of their LGBTQ center that we were like, ‘Okay, we need to do this now.’ Many other students that weren’t even part of our executive board were asking if that was something that we were willing or planning on doing. We just wrote a statement and posted it on Instagram with a Google form. And we were like, ‘Give us your emails, we’ll let you know when we’re doing things.’”
What are the benefits of honorary membership?
Arnez Gonzales: You are treated the same way and receive the same communications as every Rice student who is part of PRIDE or who attends PRIDE events. You get to come to any of the events, no questions asked. You get to use the Queer Resource Center whenever you can. Essentially, you become a Rice PRIDE member in the same way that any other Rice student can become a Rice PRIDE member.
Holladay: We have tried to make it as accessible as possible for people to attend the events, because we understand that it’s much more difficult for someone from the University of Houston to join one of our events than it might be for someone at Rice. They have to travel and they might have to use public transportation or Uber. So a lot of the events, where possible, we’ve been trying to include virtual components.
What has the uptake been like?
Holladay: It’s over 130 people. And that’s people from over 20 different universities in the state. We have people that have even registered that attend Texas Tech University, which is in Lubbock, eight hours north. Even if it means that some people can’t necessarily attend the event because they’re so far away, at least they have access to the community that we have, whether it be through GroupMe or just social media.
Are you aware of any efforts that Rice has taken to recruit LGBTQ students or make it easier for them to transfer in from other colleges?
Holladay: Off the top of my head, I’d like to say no. Something that I think is true at Rice, and is now going to be even more true for public universities, is that students are taking on the brunt of organizing and community building. For better or worse, the university really appreciates that and markets that. But it’s the students that are doing that work and creating those communities.
There needs to be a much bigger push from the Rice administration and private universities to continue to do a better job, because I don’t think that the universities are really caught up to the capacity that students have built.
We’re trying to advocate for more inclusive infrastructure. A lot of buildings on Rice’s campus are old and don’t have gender-neutral restrooms. And we’ve received a lot of pushback on that. We are very privileged and we do have a lot of resources, but there still is a lot of progress that needs to be made. It would be unfair for institutions like Rice to market themselves as queer friendly if they aren’t going to step up to the plate and continue to fight for these things.
Arnez Gonzales: Another thing we’re trying to do that was brought up in a recent Rice PRIDE board meeting — we have a lot of transgender students that often undergo gender-affirming medical procedures, whether that’s surgery or getting hormones or changing their name legally. That often requires them to miss classes for a couple days. Unfortunately, some professors who have a strict attendance policy do not view that as something that’s valid for an excused absence. So we’re going to try and ensure that that’s reflected on the syllabus, so that it’s standardized.
Jeff Falk, spokesman for Rice University, told The Chronicle in an email statement that the university was proud of its students for “creating a welcoming and inclusive community, on campus and beyond.”
In a separate statement, Falk said it was too early to talk about the effects of the Texas DEI ban on LGBTQ prospective students’ interest in Rice, but he noted that the Princeton Review consistently ranks the university highly for being LGBTQ-friendly.