The Counseling Center now hosts a voluntary LGBT support group led by Director Connie Horton.
Reach OUT President Sarah Gordon says she is hopeful for the group.
“I think some — maybe even most, and that doesn’t exclude me — might still be nervous about how the counseling group will be perceived and directed, but the Counseling Center is full of genuinely wonderful people, so I do have faith that the group will be handled with compassion and care,” Gordon said.
With news of the LGBT support group on campus, both Gordon and Lindsay Jakows (‘12), last year’s co-president of Reach OUT, say they appreciated the support group’s commitment to avoiding reparative therapy – neither promoting nor endorsing it.
Staff at the Counseling Center said the recommendations came at a time when they felt ready to offer the LGBT support group.
This fits into a larger four-tier plan that was submitted in the spring as an 18-page set of recommendations from the 2011-2012 Building Bridges Committee.
Other recommendations in the plan include: “Add FAQs to the Sexual Relationships Statement in the Seaver College Student Handbook; Create a support group where LGBT (and questioning) students can engage in open and safe dialogue; Update the harassment policy to make it clearer that harassment of LGBT students will not be tolerated at Pepperdine; Provide additional educational forums for the University community to become better informed about LGBT issues.”
According to Mark Davis, dean of Student Affairs and Building Bridges chair, President Andrew K. Benton, Provost Darryl Tippens and Seaver Dean Rick Marrs supported the committee’s recommendations and his review for the follow-up plans in the summer.
With the new support group, the 2012-2013 Seaver College Student Handbook now has FAQs clarifying the policies and procedures for sexual relationships, including that students cannot lose their scholarships or face interdisciplinary action for identifying as LGBT and that Pepperdine will discipline anyone found responsible for the harassment of LGBT students.
The handbook also writes Pepperdine’s stance on official recognition of LGBT student organizations: “Pepperdine University’s School of Law has an LGBT Legal Society for the limited purposes of discussing LGBT-related legal issues and networking for legal employment or professional development. Pepperdine has denied recognition to other LGBT student organizations with broader missions that do not clearly support Pepperdine’s affirmation of the traditional sexual ethic … [a]t the same time, we are committed to working together with our LGBT students on the goals we share in common.”
With this also comes a new “Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct” policy that will be applicable to all five schools and included in the Seaver Handbook.
The fourth supported recommendation is the new “Building Bridges Forum,” a convocation set to meet once a month in the Fireside Room. Davis will work with the Chaplain’s Office to produce programs on “sexuality and faith.” The committee intended for the educational programming to mirror the annual “Veritas Forum.”
The committee, comprising of the University Church of Christ, students, staff, faculty and Davis as chair, acted as a resource to LGBT affairs throughout the 2011-2012 year.
The Counseling Center’s director, Horton, wrote to the Graphic that the group would most likely meet at the center once a week. She hopes the group will help the LGBT community to feel acknowledged, cared for and valued — and not alone.
“The support group will be a safe place for students who identify as LGBTQ to freely share any concerns, struggles or stressors they have now or have faced in the past,” Horton wrote. “Exactly what they want to discuss will depend on the individuals in the group but may include bullying experiences, relationship conflicts, spiritual questions, future anxieties, mood struggles, etc.”
Like any group setting in the Counseling Center, client confidentiality will be ensured. Students will make a “promise” not to share details about shared information or tell others who came to the group.
Anyone interested in participating in the group should call to set up an appointment at 310-506-4210.
