Our View: A center of hope

DKS Editors

Kent State’s push for diversity at the university will bring a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender center to its main campus. Kent will become one of eight universities in the state of Ohio that has a designated LGBT center.

The addition of the center comes at a time when the university is pushing for everyone to accept diversity across campus. The new vice president of diversity, Alfreda Brown, was said to have had a major part in making this center a reality.

This center is being created at a very important time in the United States. In the wake of a major civil rights movement, the LGBT community has been looking to gain support throughout the nation. The center will create a safe zone for people who want to learn more about the LGBT community. Plus, it will offer students pursuing the LGBT minor a place to meet with professors – something that’s been difficult to do without a designated meeting place on campus.

The university stands to benefit from the center in multiple ways. It will attract a more diverse group of students in the future and will create a welcoming atmosphere for the center of LGBT activities.

We hope Kent State will develop a niche for providing unique LGBT courses by strengthening the LGBT studies curriculum. Along with the new center, the LGBT faculty is working on changing the LGBT studies program. The presence of the LGBT center on campus should help foster a greater understanding among students. The university acted wisely in putting the LGBT center in the Center for Student Involvement, an area frequented by student groups.

This is a big win for the LGBT community at Kent State and is a small step in a major movement that will continue to take the forefront in society’s discussions. We hope the LGBT center lives up to its name as a bustling place for students and professors to meet, making Kent State a more LGBT-friendly campus.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.