UVM Student Receives National Award Larry Wolf Shane Katzman-Rooks graduated from UVM this spring. In addition to the ed- ucation he received as a student, he pro- vided an education for others. His work- shops on homosexuality, homophobia and heterosexism won him an award from the National Association of Stu- dent Personnel Administrators. The award was in recognition of his commit- ment to combating oppression by spon- soring events and interventions to ed- ucate others about racism, sexism, heterosexism, anti-semitism, classism and ableism. One other student and one student organization also received this award this year. Shane spent his first undergraduate year at Oberlin College where, he says, "I just slammed the closet door wide open." After that year in a supportive environment, he returned to Vermont to continue his schooling at UVM. "I found that UVM is a very straight cam- pus. You get the impression that it's 99% straight -- which I know for a fact it isn't. There are certain departments that have gay people in them. There are other departments that don't know that they have gay people in them. The fa- culty advisor for the Gay, Lesbian, Bi- sexual Alliance is not gay. That gives you an idea of how closeted it is." During that first year at UVM, he started talking about being gay as a guest speak- er for a human sexuality class. Shane found that he didn't like the guest-queer speaker format. He decided to change the focus from himself to the students in the class. He became a facilitator rather than a lecturer. He asked the par- ticipants to risk something of them- selves, to make them aware of their own behavior: What were their attitudes? What were their experiences? His workshops were a chance to break the taboo that you can't speak about ho- mosexuality. He created an environ- ment where it was safe to talk, to ac- knowledge feelings — positive and negative. The workshops were a chance for people to stretch their comfort levels, where they could explore their feelings on homosexual issues without fear of re- percussions. He had people say the words — pornographic, degrading, and uplifting — which are used to name les- bians, gays and bisexuals. He usually broke the ice with some of the stronger words: "I'd say the really hard ones, the graphic ones, to define the limits. Then they could fill the space in between." Over the last two years, a dozen people approached Shane outside of his work- shops to seek his support as they dealt with their own sexuality. One person was so shy that when he initially wrote to Shane he didn't sign his letter. Shane was able to find pockets of sup- port within the larger institution. He be- came a Resident Assistant because the Residential Life department actually en- couraged diversity. He’d like to see a real act of support from the administra- tion and faculty on gay, lesbian and bi- sexual issues. He says "people pretend there aren't any of us on campus, and that there isn't homophobia or hetero- sexism. It's been left up to the students. There needs to be active administrative effort to sponsor events on campus. There needs to be research into the is- sues on campus — people's experiences and the attitudes they face. There should be an advocate for gay, lesbian and bisexual issues — a paid, ad- ministrative position -- to actively work within the University to educate, to chal- lenge instances of discrimination, and to keep people infonned about what's go- ing on." "I think the workshops made a differ- ence. I managed to open some eyes." Shane continues to work within the sys- tem, looking for ways to make UVM a more supportive place for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. He says "being a college student is a transition time before be- coming a full member of the com- munity. The University should be doing more with social issues." Shane plans to go to graduate school in music composition -- he has received an award for "Excellence in Composition" from the American Society of Compos- ers, Authors and Publishers. V September 1991 DESKTOP PUBLISHING GRAPHIC DESIGN TRAINING &‘SUPPORT I fiill scwice I .s‘e[f'.teH'ic'e I mac-pcgfilc c'()nversi0ns I image and raw scanning I laser printing I qualify photocopies I fax services I great looking msunws I color slide /))'e.s'er1tari(»1s I mac training war/cs'h0ps I pl 'Qfessi()nal , _ friend] y Se/vit 'e 187 St. Paul St. Burlington VT 882.863.1884 W \ Forconfidenfial AIDS Information Call 1-800-882-AIDS K J