The Student Assembly (SA) of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) passed a resolution Tuesday evening calling upon the University to create a full-time administrative position within the Dean of Students office to serve the school’s LGBTQ+ community.
Entitled, “A Resolution Concerning Bias-Related Incidents,” the resolution was sponsored by Hugh McMahon, MCAS ’20; and co-sponsored by Ellen O’Brien MCAS ’20; Aneeb Sheikh, MCAS ’20; and Patrick Madaya, MCAS ’18.
This position would exist under the supervision of the assistant dean for student outreach and support, and its duties would include organizing programs, coordinating outreach, and administering training. Other duties would be delegated by Assistant Dean for Student Outreach and Support Caroline Davis. The occupant of this position must be a professional with proficient understanding of LGBTQ+ identities and issues, as well as queer identities’ relationships to other intersectional identities.
The administration could not be reached for comment on the resolution at press time.
Furthermore, McMahon’s resolution was in response to the argument that there are not enough hands on deck to focus on queer issues at BC.
“Boston College has a socially conservative and Roman Catholic identity, which only contributes to a culture of anti-queerness, which can exacerbate this problem,” McMahon said.
He noted that homophobia and transphobia, both explicit and implicit on campus, increase queer students’ risk of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. He explained that college-aged members of the LGBTQ+ community at BC face a unique set of challenges not faced by their straight and cisgender peers, which negatively impacts their academic performance.
“There is a lot of discussion on the lack of intersectional spaces for queer students of color, so we want to make it really central to this hiring process that intersectionality is on the forefront,” McMahon said.
Featured Image by Kate Mahoney / Heights Staff
Feb 17, 10:36 p.m.: This article has been updated as the resolution was not passed unanimously.
