March 26, 2025
Dear Students and Colleagues,
Several weeks ago, I shared in a campus-wide message (Belonging), that I would be convening a Committee for CSUCI’s LGBTQ+ Community in response to the uptick we are seeing across the nation in anti-LGBTQ+ verbiage and violence. I am pleased to share that this group is formed, charged with a set of deliverables, and on the way to achieving them. I write today to provide an update on the why, the what, and the how of this Committee’s work.
The question of “why” is easily answered. Members of our LGBTQ+ community are experiencing challenges to their well-being and safety which are different in kind but not in severity from those faced by our undocumented students, colleagues, family members, and friends. While I cannot guarantee safety from all threats to any member of our campus community, I can promise my unwavering support for upholding the dignity of every student, staff member, faculty member, and administrator at CSUCI. I can promise to do all that I can to ensure that our LGBTQ+ students and colleagues feel included, respected, and valued here – and that they can know beyond any shadow of a doubt that they belong firmly on our campus and in this world.
The question of “what” is answered in the charge that I co-created with this Committee, in which I have asked them to help communicate CSUCI’s commitment to the safety and well-being of our LGBTQ+ students and colleagues; to support and amplify existing activities for promoting safety, well-being, and belongingness for our LGBTQ+ community and identify new possibilities for doing so; and to monitor relevant laws and policies and advise me, accordingly.
As to the “how” of this group’s work, a two-phase action plan is already created. Work has begun on its first phase, which includes: (1) creating a website of resources similar to the Undocumented Student Resources site developed by the Committee for Undocumented Students; (2) finding ways to make LGBTQ+ allyship visible; and (3) expanding safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students and employees, moving beyond physical safe spaces to the virtual, the action oriented, and the symbolic. Following this first phase of activity, which will consume the remainder of Spring 2025, this Committee will offer information sessions to the campus community in response to divisional invitations. Stay tuned for more information on this learning opportunity as updates become available.
I will close with a quote by Erin Reed that I find not only inspiring but applicable in a number of contexts. She wrote, “The fight for rights is seldom straightforward; success does not come without setbacks. For trans people now, that is abundantly true. That fight is not over.”
To every person at CSUCI who is fighting for the dignity of all, I am proud to be by your side.
Sincerely,
Richard Yao, Ph.D.
President