A college resource center is making the success of LGBTQ+ students a priority.
The Gender and Sexuality Student Resource Center, or GSSRC, is a relatively new organization at Salt Lake Community College that streamlines several resources targeted at students who identify as LGBTQ+ and women.
“If I had a space like this, it would’ve helped me live authentically a lot sooner,” said GSSRC resource coordinator Peter Moosman.
The center has been open since Oct. 11, 2019, an intentional date to coincide with National Coming Out Day and the International Day of the Girl Child.
Moosman said the center provides many benefits to students, and that even after 12 years working at SLCC, he thinks that there is still more work to be done and encourages students of all backgrounds to get involved.
One important achievement is how the center has been collecting data regarding graduation rates and academic progress of LGBTQ+ students to learn how to help future students, and now the center is currently working on an LGBTQ+ scholarship.
Since the establishment of the center, SLCC’s Campus Pride Index score, a national index that rates institutions on LGBTQ+ equity, rose from a 3 to a 4 this past June, bolstering SLCC to the status of being named the most affordable LGBTQ+ college in the nation.
For students interested in getting involved, the center hosts the Queer Student Association that meets every Tuesday and an LGBTQ+ support group called Prism meets every Wednesday. The GSSRC has also collaborated with the Community Writing Center to create an online queer writing group, Write it OUT.
The GSSRC, located in room 1-140 on the South City Campus, is a vibrant and colorful space that offers a study-friendly setting equipped with computers, access to free printing, and a library. In addition, the center provides essentials such as condoms and menstrual health products as well as an abundance of snacks and couches for students to read, relax, study, and socialize.
For more information on the GSSRC, visit their webpage.
