The founding of the LGBTQ Resource Center is a story of student activism. Following several hate crimes against LGBTQ students on campus in 2007, a coalition of student groups organized the Out for Change Campaign highlighting issues faced by Georgetown’s LGBTQ community. The group laid out demands for change, including the creation of a resource center with full-time staff, which were met by University administration. Georgetown’s LGBTQ Resource Center opened in the fall of 2008, helmed by its inaugural director Sivagami “Shiva” Subbaraman. In her 13 years as director, Subbaraman initiated a variety of programming to engage not only students, faculty, and staff but also Georgetown’s alumni community to build a safe and welcoming space for all to engage with and celebrate one another.
The records of the LGBTQ Resource Center highlight the work of the Center but also document the history of the LGBTQ community at Georgetown, dating back to the late 1970s. These records were donated to the Center by a multitude of alumni and allies who were involved in the early efforts by students to organize officially recognized student groups on the main campus and at the Law Center and the subsequent civil rights lawsuit filed against the University by these students.
Items on display:
- ”Georgetown first to recognize gays”, The Hoya, February 2, 1979
- GALA-GU News, April 1988
- Hoya Pride T-shirt
- OUTober 2017 Schedule of Events Poster
- Lavender Graduation 10th Anniversary Program, 2018
Transfer from Sivagami “Shiva” Subbaraman