Central Michigan Life

Phil Reese said he knows at least two dozen gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students who have left CMU because they felt out of place.

“They feel like there’s nothing for GLBT people here,” the Lincoln Park senior said.

The Gay-Straight Alliance is launching Queer Peer, a program orientating incoming or newly outed GLBT students in the CMU and Mount Pleasant communities.

Reese, GSA vice president, said it introduces students to many parts of campus and town they might not know about, while giving younger students a positive role model they can relate to.

“In a nutshell, Queer Peer is meant to provide the resources for students who are coming out, or students already out, that are having their first year at Central, really need,” he said.

Reese, a homosexual, said it took almost four years to find the best opportunities at CMU.

“If I had something like this when I was a freshman, I could have made the most of my time here,” he said.

While the alliance can provide a valuable source of information for many GLBT students, Reese said the group can’t always meet each individual’s needs completely.

“My job in the GSA is to assess what we’re lacking,” he said. “The problem was that individual needs could not be met in the large group setting as well as they could be met in a one-on-one program.”

Queer Peer focuses on five key points for the individual student.

They are support, services, socialization into CMU, familiarization with campus and town, and academic and personal success.

“It gives new students a chance to experience their freshman year with a little bit of guidance,” said New Baltimore freshman Samantha Underwood, Queer Peer advisory board member.

Queer Peer draws on advice from the Office of Affirmative Action, Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates and the Office of Gay and Lesbian Programs. The mentoring program will go through a trial run this semester and will be in full-effect next fall.

Almost 20 mentors and a half dozen prospective “peers” – those being mentored – already have expressed interest, Reese said.

“This is a great chance to learn,” he said. “Right now it’s a project of the GSA, and hopefully it will remain under the GSA forever.”

Both current and incoming students can find out more at www.queerpeer.cmugsa.org.

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