Ithaca College’s Student Governance Council (SGC) met with Grace Dosdall, the inaugural Ithaca College LGBTQ pride fellow, to discuss resources and services students have available through the fellowship and the LGBT Center.

Dosdall was appointed as the fellow in August 2022 to obtain experience working in a higher-level learning environment and to expand campus LBGTQ+ resources. The Pride Fellowship offers counseling, legal name changing assistance and other ways to make students feel comfortable and accepted on campus. Dosdall, and all future fellows, will hold this position for two years. 

Dosdall started by explaining how the LGBT Center has moved locations from Hammond Health Center to Towers Concourse. 

“Before COVID, we were in the basement of the Hammond Health Center,” Dosdall said. “It was dark, it was dingy, it was sad.”

This location change comes from the Pride Fellowship and Dosdall wanting to create a more comforting environment, something they believe the Towers Concourse is providing. First-year student Rishabh Sen, vice president of campus affairs, stated some issues he has noticed with this change.

“I feel like a lot of [students in] lower campus don’t go to Towers,” Sen said. “Maybe Campus Center, where there is a lot of foot traffic, will allow people to see the center a lot more.”

Other ideas for promotion brought up by the SGC and Dosdall were posters, a bigger presence in the Ithaca sporting community or a lower campus outreach program. Dosdall said they know the location of the LGBT Center is an issue but will have to be solved in the next semester. Dosdall is focusing on events, resources and other activities to engage and educate students about upcoming recreational activities, promoted events and expansion of the Transgender and Non-Binary Residential Learning Community (RLC).

“This year [the RLC] was open to sophomores, juniors and seniors,” Dosdall said. “Next year, freshmen will also be able to apply. … It’s just another way for them to all be in community with one another. … Fingers crossed, It’s becoming two floors next year.”

Dosdall said a major issue during and just after the COVID-19 pandemic was hosting in-person events to raise awareness of the Pride Fellowship’s existence and make students feel comfortable with their peers. Events held in the past include a writing event with the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services, an asexual student panel and a gender-expansive clothing swap.

“We are back and better than ever,” Dosdall said. “[Students] are welcome to use our center. It is for everybody.”

Future activities include tarot card readings, a mood board craft night, a queer shabbat with Hillel at Ithaca College and a pride prom. Information about events happening can be found on the Pride Fellowship website.

Before leaving, Dosdall answered questions regarding the inclusivity and the Pride Fellowship’s goal of getting more students involved and finding a community they feel welcome in. 

“I think Ithaca College does such a good job at making [LGBTQ+ services] normal,” Dosdall said. ”The fact that we have a center is an amazing thing. … Anyone is welcome to use our center. The more the merrier.”

Senior Maxwell Powers, who resigned last semester as vice president of business and finance for the SGC, held a platform for becoming senator-at-large for the SGC. Powers previously held this position for two and a half years, writing around twenty-eight bills. Powers said an important topic for him is accessibility on campus. 

“We still do not have an accessibility map,” Powers said. “Just looking at a map, the campus may look pretty accessible, but it is not unfortunately. … For wheelchair buttons, sometimes those are broken. Obviously, that is something that needs to be addressed immediately.”

Powers campaigned to rejoin the Appropriations Committee to make sure clubs are also being as inclusive and open to accessibility as possible. 

“The senator’s role is working more on how we can improve accessibility on campus, not only if you are disabled or differently abled,” Powers said. “That’s really what the main thing was with the project, which was literally just going through what buildings are accessible and what are not. … Some of the inclines are actually not ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] approved.” 

Finally, first-year student Dante Conde, Class of 2026 senator, approached the board to become a member of the Appropriations Committee.

“I have seen what clubs want to do,” Conde said. “I want to build a better social media page as well as improve general communication.”

Conde was approved unanimously for the Appropriations Committee, and Powers was approved unanimously for both the Appropriations Committee and senator-at-large. 

Finally, during officer and senator reports, senior Grace Madeya, president of the student body, gave an update about how clubs can receive funding and a major update that has occurred. Previously clubs needed to attend an in-person workshop that taught them the basics of acquiring funding, types of budgets and how to submit and request a budget. Madeya explained that this program is now completely virtual, and clubs looking to gain a budget can now do it asynchronously.

The SGC is the sole representative body for the Ithaca College student community. The SGC can be contacted at [email protected].