Professor Erin Fredericks, the new resource adviser for LGBTQIA+ students at St. Thomas University, sat at a booth during Welcome Week’s information session last Wednesday, flanked by pride flags.
She created the new position to provide support for students who are part of a gender or sexual minority, students who are a growing demographic at STU.
“Our last student survey found that 15 per cent of the student body at STU are LGBTQ,” said Fredericks, who is also a Sociology professor at STU. “Which is a huge number comparing to the population expectations.”
Fredericks will be working with Student Services to provide more help and support for LGBTQ students on campus.
She will have office hours when students can drop by and ask for help or just talk.
She will begin a Safer Spaces program this October, which will involve training sessions for faculty and staff to inform them of LGBTQIA+ issues at St. Thomas.
“Faculty and staff can attend the training that will teach them, you know, what do these letters even mean. How can I be more respectful of these folks in my classes and in interacting with them on campus? What do we need to talk about?”
After faculty and staff have completed this training, they will receive a Safer Spaces postcard that they can display on their office doors.
Welcome Week leaders and residence advisers have already received gender and sexual minority training as well, and Fredericks is helping to set the foundations for a student run LGBTQIA+ representative society at STU.
Hannah Hebert, a second year student at St. Thomas is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I bounced up and down like a little kid when I heard about [the resource adviser],” said Hebert. “Students would go to seek help and have to teach those people what it meant to be them, instead of hearing, ‘Hey, I understand, let’s move forward.’”
Fredericks hopes that students don’t have to advocate for themselves alone anymore.
“All they have to do is send me an email, or show up to my office hours on Thursdays, and then I can help them advocate.”
