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The Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, the oldest office of its kind in the nation, now has new name: The Spectrum Center.
The change became official last week after approval from Dean of Students Sue Eklund and the Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster Harper as well as support from the University’s executive officers.
The Spectrum Center began its name change process as early as 2005 with discussions within U-M’s LGBT community.
“One of the reasons for moving forward with our initial proposal was because the community reflects so much more than the letters L-G-B-T. The community is more complex,” says Jackie Simpson, director of The Spectrum Center. “We, again, want to acknowledge that the process did prove to be challenging, given that one’s sexual orientation and gender identity and expression are incredibly personal. At the same time, we know that changing trends have told us that the communities of LGBTQ people go by any number of terms, including queer and same-gender loving and, of course, ally.”
The Spectrum Center met with and discussed the name change with different constituencies from across the University community, including the Department of Women’s Studies, the Lesbian-Gay-Queer Research Initiative, the LGBT Commission of the Michigan Student Assembly and RELATE multicultural student organization. Feedback from a community forum series, online surveys and Web blogs also were built into the name change process to ensure that the widest representation of voices were solicited and heard, Simpson says. The final decision was based on a collection of those ideas.
Throughout the process, one common theme emerged: individuals and groups wanted a name that allowed for flexibility, variety, fluidity and multiplicity; a term that lent itself to inclusivity and a more broad perspective. In addition, the staff considered the vision of the office.
“So our discussion in the choosing of a name was reflective of not just labels of an identity group but also of the work we have been asked to do,” says Program Coordinator Kevin Correa. “And we believe that the name Spectrum Center does just that.”
The center’s mission, vision and major programs and services will be maintained and staff members plan to have all administrative processes and informational directories updated by Aug. 1. A contest will be launched March 26 to select a new logo for The Spectrum Center.
