When Queer Resource Center Director Cat McGraw began working at Portland State last July, she was still getting acclimated to the campus. Next week marks her three-month anniversary at the QRC, and she is well on her way to implementing her vision for the center, which recently became a department.
The small office located in the north stairwell of Smith Memorial Student Union is now a department under the Office of the Dean of Student Life, categorized with Residence Life, Commencement and Student Legal Services as a resource for students.
For McGraw, the purpose of the QRC is connectivity. She sees the center as a bridge among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer and questioning [LGBTQ] students and faculty and all other PSU departments.
McGraw’s ultimate goal for the QRC is for PSU to gain recognition as a “destination for [LGBTQ] students in the state of Oregon.”
LGBTQ students face a myriad of challenges that other students do not, McGraw said. Through advocacy and support, however, the QRC is able to make life at PSU more comfortable and inclusive for them.
Financial aid is one process that the QRC tries to make easier. McGraw helps navigate the financial aid paperwork for students who have been emancipated from their parents or are otherwise unable to obtain tax forms sometimes because their parents have reacted negatively to their sexual orientation.
In addition, McGraw says that the QRC partners with other community agencies like Outside In and the Sexual and Gender Minority Youth Center to find welcoming places for students who fall along the homelessness continuum.
Another great resource for students who may be struggling with their identity, facing discrimination, prejudice or dealing with other crises is the weekly counseling session that the QRC has arranged, McGraw said. Every Thursday afternoon, a counselor from the Student Health and Counseling Center comes to the QRC to meet with students one-on-one. This is an invaluable resource to students who are statistically more prone to depression and suicide than their straight and gender-normative classmates, according to the “Journal of Youth and Adolescence.”
The QRC also advocates for faculty and staff who are openly gay or transgendered.
“We see both students and faculty,” McGraw said. “More and more we’re seeing faculty who want to be leaders in their departments for queer students to turn to.”
As a department, the QRC now has funding to expand its hours. As a result, the staff will be able to answer phones and provide assistance to walk-in visitors Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Currently there are 30 active volunteers, five interns, one graduate worker and a handful of student workers who plan events, attend public activities, keep the resource wall up-to-date, research current issues on campus and in the LGBTQ community and handle all the day-to-day tasks of running a department, McGraw said.
Her first objectives are to start establishing traditions like last week’s National Coming Out Week activities and the Trans Day of Remembrance event coming up on Nov. 20. In addition, she would like to hire and train more staff in an effort to expand hours of operation and to increase public awareness of the department and the services it offers.
Now, as the QRC department is gaining momentum, McGraw wants to hear from the PSU population.
“I’m most interested in hearing feedback from students, staff and faculty,” McGraw said.
To give her your feedback, visit the QRC in 401 SMSU or send an e-mail to qrc@pdx.edu. ?