LGBT (Task) Force

I grew up in Pennsylvania, and have lived in Maryland, Ohio, Mississippi, Texas and Wisconsin. My husband and I have been residents of Wisconsin for the past 20 years. We have two grown children. Our daughter, her partner and two grandchildren and our son and daughter-in-law live in TX. In our free time, we enjoy riding our motorcycle on country roads in the state and on road trips to Pennsylvania and Texas to visit family.

I began working for the State of Wisconsin in 1989 with the Department of Corrections and transferred to UW-Whitewater in 2001. I am the Administrative Affairs representative for the Chancellor’s Task Force for LGBT Issues. Our daughter is my inspiration and driving force to be on the LGBT Task Force. I am thankful for the opportunity to help raise awareness of LGBT issues and to help provide a comfortable and safe environment for all students, faculty and staff.

The task force is comprised of members from all over campus. The blog allows us to not only let the campus community know what we do, but also gives us an opportunity to introduce the individuals that make up this fantastic committee.

My name is Melissa DiMotto and I work in University Marketing and Media Relations in Hyer Hall. I’ve been at UW-Whitewater since 1999. I have a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a master’s degree in corporate communication both from UW-Whitewater.

I’ve always found campus to be welcoming and supportive of students, faculty and staff of all walks of life and I strive to make my office environment feel the same way.

I enjoy spreading the good news about all of the great things happening on campus. I hope you’ll stop by sometime to share your story with me.

The task force is comprised of members from all over campus. The blog allows us to not only let the campus community know what we do, but also gives us an opportunity to introduce the individuals that make up this fantastic committee.

How many people can say that they have worked with the top student judicial affairs officer in the country AND three of this year’s recipients of the Women in Leadership Awards, all on the same committee?

I can.

Read the press releases about Mary Beth Mackin’s prestigious honor and the Women in Leadership Awards, in which Amy Edmonds, Sonya Gladney and Kathy Mather were recognized for their campus contributions.

Hello! My name is Christine Hollar. People call me Chris, they also call me Hollar – it is your preference in which you choose! I grew up on in a small farm town called Milladore in central Wisconsin on a dairy farm. I have been at UWW for 4 years and am currently a hall director in the Arey/Benson Complex. My undergrad is from UW-La Crosse in therapeutic recreation (working with individuals with disabilities to engage back in life). I returned to college and received a Master’s in Counseling Education – Higher Education Track from UWW.

I represent the Academic Staff Assembly, sharing information from the LGBT Task Force with ASA. I enjoy being on this committee because it is helping to level the playing field for all underrepresented groups. I see my brother and his partner struggle with our family dynamics and I can see the exceptional need for support of individuals coming out.

The task force is comprised of members from all over campus. The blog allows us to not only let the campus community know what we do, but also gives us an opportunity to introduce the individuals that make up this fantastic committee.

We met last Wednesday (8 October) – here are the highlights:

• The September Safe Zone training was a success gauging from the feedback Chris and Kyle received from the evaluations. There were suggestions to make a Powerpoint presentation and to include information about how to handle various scenarios, such as when a student comes to speak with you.
• Next Safe Zone training – 29 October with Melissa.
• The 4th Annual LGBTQ Conference (in conjunction with the 33rd Annual Women’s Studies Conference) will be 3-4 April 2009 in Madison.
• Kate Clinton is coming on 23 October at 7:30 PM. Fair Wisconsin will be holding a discussion before her performance from 6-7 PM.

You can also read the full minutes (PDF) if you’d like.

Thanks to Susie for the minutes!

… but words will never hurt me.

Wouldn’t that be great if it were actually true? The fact of the matter is that our words have more impact than we may acknowledge. Some people have developed a thick skin, while others take comments to heart. Part of the Task Force’s charge is to ensure that students, faculty and staff feel safe and welcome on the UWW campus and in Whitewater.

One of the manners in which we seek to achieve this goal is through the SafeZone program. You may have seen the placards in office windows and wondered what exactly that means. The people with the signs have gone through our training, and the placard serves as a public declaration that anyone can feel comfortable approaching the owner to talk to you in confidence. Whether a student comes to you distressed about their changing world or a colleague informs you about possible discrimination, they will know that you will listen without judging them.

Although it is called SafeZone ‘training,’ it is more of an open dialogue about issues that face the LGBT community. We discuss how the words we use in our everyday conversations may inadvertently exclude LGBT individuals, what you can do to make sure that you are being inclusive, as well as a chance to learn about common scenarios in which you can positively display yourself as an open-minded person.

If interested, please come to UC 261 on either October 29 or December 4 from 12-1 PM to participate in the training. No sign-up is necessary. If you would like more information, please contact any member of the LGBT Task Force.

We met last Wednesday (10 September) – here are the highlights:

• Melissa reported that the Involvement Opportunity Fair was a success (I know, I was there!). There was a lot of interest in learning about the task force and attending the Safe Zone trainings.
• Mary Beth went through a mock Safe Zone training for the group. The first training session will be 23 September (next week!) over the lunch hour (12-1 PM) in the UC, room 261.
• Kate Clinton is coming to Whitewater – Young Auditorium, 23 October at 7:30 PM. Questions? Contact Ken Kohberger (kohbergk@uww.edu).

You can also read the full minutes (PDF) if you’d like.

In Susie’s absence, Melissa graciously took minutes – thanks Melissa!

It’s official – summer is almost over. I know, major sad face. How do I know that summer is almost over? Fall Orientation begins in three days. Yikes.

And what would fall orientation be without the Involvement Opportunity Fair? On Tuesday (26 August) at 9 AM in the Kachel Center, the Task Force will be present, spreading the word about what we do and to promote upcoming events, like the Safe Zone training.

Hopefully you’ll be attending the Chancellor’s State of the University Address – so come a little early and say hi to Melissa and Kyle (that’s me!).

One of the purposes of the blog is to be able to let everyone know what we’re up to. Because of that, it just makes sense to put the agendas and minutes from our meetings up. I know, it’s a novel concept.

We met last Wednesday (13 August) – here are the highlights:

• Kim and Eric met with Chancellor Telfer and he thinks we’re doing a great job (score for us!).
• A committee, with representatives from various departments and formed by Chancellor Telfer, will investigate campus response to any incidents of hate and how to proceed.
• Sonya has gotten the ball rolling on the PB Poorman Achievement Award, which will recognize a student and their efforts to promote LGBT equality.
• We went over the Safe Zone training agenda and set dates (September 23, October 29 and December 4) – look for more on that later.
• Melissa and Kyle will be at the Involvement Opportunity Fair to let people know about us and what we do.

You can also read the full minutes (PDF) if you’d like.

As always, thanks to Susie for taking the minutes!

So we missed a familiar face at our meeting last week. And he’s not going to be at the next meeting. Supposedly he has this good excuse to not be there – something about being in Beijing or whatever.

That’s right – Eric Barber, co-chair of the task force, will be in China to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games with the US men’s wheelchair basketball team! That’s right – he’ll be over there until the middle of September going for gold. We wish him, along with the other athletes (including several UWW alums and students), the best of luck!

If you’d like to stay on top of the latest happenings with the team, two wheelchair basketball fans have started a blog and will be keeping this side of the world in the loop – 2008 Paralympics USA Wheelchair Basketball.