About Us
The LGBT Resource Center (LGBT RC) at the University of Utah supports the success of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual/aromantic (LGBTQIA+) students as well as providing educational and cultural events for the entire campus. The LGBT RC was formally dedicated in April of 2002. The center was a result of a concerted student initiative that was supported by faculty and university administration, which resulted in the establishment of an office on campus permanently located within the Student Union. The LGBT RC is part of the Division of Student Affairs.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center of the University of Utah support student well-being and success by empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual/aromantic (LGBTQIA+) students in navigating university systems, exploring their identities, finding community, developing as leaders, and degree completion.
The LGBT Resource Center envisions a campus informed by social justice frameworks where LGBTQIA+ students thrive in the fullness of their complex selves, supported by a community actively engaged in dismantling oppressive systems in higher education, and critically imagining new ways of living.
- Celebration of LGBTQIA+ Lives
- Identity Matters
- We Thrive through Community
- Anti-Racism
- Student Success
- LGBTQIA+ Advocacy is All of Our Work
Learn more about each of our values below.
All of our annual reports are available to the public on the website of the Assessment and Analytics department of Student Affairs. This includes our Racial Justice Action plan, found in report 2020-2021 and subsequent years. To learn more, see: https://studentaffairs.utah.edu/assessment/annual-reports/index.php
Our Values
Celebration of LGBTQIA+ Lives
Our work is not about creating more acceptance of LGBTQIA+ students on campus, but rather a celebration of LGBTQIA+ lives in all their diversity. We believe that LGBTQIA+ people make our campus and our world a better place, and that we need to honor the contributions of queer and trans people.
Identity Matters
The key to a transformative education is a student's ability to bring their entire self to our campus. We strive to remove institutional, cultural, and personal barriers that prevent students from living, learning, and leading as their holistic selves.
We Thrive through Community
Community and kinship building is key in LGBTQIA+ students' well-being and success. Students who have a community of peers and mentors that affirms their LGBTQIA+ identities are better equipped to navigate college and to be resilient to challenges.
Anti-Racism
We have a responsibility to address how racism has historically shaped LGBTQIA+ spaces and continues to be perpetuated in LGBTQIA+ communities. Our ongoing work includes de-centering whiteness in discussions of LGBTQIA+ lives, addressing racist behaviors and systems in our center and our university, and incorporating anti-racist and critical race lenses in our programing. Our staff commits to continued self-reflection and growth in this area.
Student Success
We are here to help students succeed on their own terms. What that means may be different depending on the student: for some success is defined by graduating and obtaining employment in the field of their major, for others it is defined through finding a community that fulfills them, and for others it may be gaining tools for self-acceptance, or a combination of these things. Our office works with students on multiple goals and through many life paths.
LGBTQIA+ Advocacy is All of Our Work
Cultural change cannot happen if we are not working together. Each person—student, faculty, or staff—can make a difference in their area of influence, no matter how seemingly small, in working towards a more inclusive, equitable campus.