Purdue LBGTQ Center celebrates grand opening, expanded services
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University LGBTQ Center celebrated its grand opening recently in the heart of campus at the Hicks Undergraduate Library.
“There is so much excitement on campus and beyond," said Lowell Kane, director of Purdue's LGBTQ Center. "We are recognized as a national leader in LGBTQ resources, support and inclusion. Everybody has their eye on the LGBTQ center at Purdue, and so, the buzz about this grand opening has been exciting and today’s the day.”
The LGBTQ center initially opened in 2012, and since then, it has become nationally recognized for the level of services and resources that it offers to the LGBTQ students of Purdue.
Discussion about creating the newly opened center began about two years ago after the center's leadership noticed an increased interest in the center.
For example, last year about 90 unique visitors stopped into the center on a daily basis, and it drew about 14,000 visits during the school year.
Within the first few days of its opening, the center recorded about 160 students. They expect that number to grow significantly as more students learn about the new location.
“In this space, we are able to scale up our programs and resources because this facility is three times the size of our last center,” Kane said.
“There are some new features that we never had in our old space," Kane said. "For example, a large challenge on college campuses nationwide is food insecurity, and so, one of the features that we built into this center is a beautiful kitchenette and an area where people can enjoy food and community.”
Students visiting the LGBTQ Center will have access to the ACE Campus Food Pantry. The center also caters to meeting spaces for small groups.
During the pandemic, the cultural center staff noticed that students used their offices as a private space, normally to take calls with mental health providers or to hold one-on-one private meetings.
With this newly recognized need, leaders at the LGBTQ center wanted to offer similar spaces at the new location and added several reserve spaces that students can use for private matters.
“The average student in our last space over the last two years, the duration of stay went from 75 minutes to 90 minutes," Kane said. "There’s an increase in how long people are staying here to build that sense of belonging, to use the quiet study spaces, where they feel safe and affirmed. And we’re expecting that to increase.
“We know, data tells us that nationally 1 in 5 Generation Z college students identify as members of this community, but our visitation is more than just our LGBTQ students. And so, we want to make sure that we're engaging our allies and friends and family members and making sure this is a space for all people.”
With the expansion and growth of the center, leadership is hoping that it will give the flexibility to start reaching out to former Boilermakers in hopes of inviting them to the center as mentors to Purdue students.
Reaching out to former Boilermakers, might also re-engage with Purdue alumni.
“With alumni, I think it's important to recognize because a center like this is only 10-and-a-half-years old, many of our alumni were students here when there was not a center," Kane said. "And so, it is first and foremost to re-engage our alumni with Purdue in a new capacity because this space was not here for them.
“It is potentially an opportunity to recognize that maybe they didn’t have the greatest experience.
"I don’t want to assume that for everybody, but perhaps there is an opportunity for us to rebuild bridges, mending some space and as an opportunity for new relationships with our alums.”
Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue LBGTQ Center celebrates grand opening, expanded services
