LGBTQ+ Student Mental Health Services at VCU: Inclusivity, Diversity, and Intentionality - Bethany M. (bee) Coston, Carmina Galvez, Megan Guinn and Kaylin Tingle
Description: Access to inclusive, equitable mental health care resources are limited--and sometimes non-existent--for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and other non-heterosexual, non-cisgender (LGBTQIA+) college students. To remedy this, VCU has engaged in the deliberate and targeted hiring of named LGBTQ+ positions within University Counseling Services and The Wellness Resource Center, stigma reduction campaigns, inclusive and affirmative care and service delivery, use of social media interventions for mental health and wellness, partnerships and collaborations with both on and off-campus organizations, diverse and intersectional LGBTQIA+ programming, and consistent collection of student perceptions of service efficacy. For the first time, the outcomes of this intentional work will be systematically summarized and detailed. This panel will detail the institutional LGBTQIA+ history at VCU--with a specific focus on mental health care and wellness services--and report the the impact of this work (from 2011 to present) on LGBTQIA+ student mental health outcomes and service usage rates. Audience members can expect to leave with increased awareness about VCU’s LGBTQIA+ history, better comprehension of how institutional decisions impact overall LGBTQ+ student mental health outcomes, and a framework or set of guidelines on best practices for LGBTQ+ student mental health service provision.
Main Event Information:
On Friday, November 30, the university will host Commemorating History: Challenges and Opportunities, a day-long symposium to examine VCU's connection to the legacies of MCV and RPI, explore how the institution has evolved across five decades, consider our achievements as well as our complicated and difficult history, and discuss how we commemorate history on campus.
Alumni, students, current and retired faculty and staff, friends and community members are invited to attend a day of panels, research poster presentations and informative sessions featuring esteemed historians, speakers and members of the VCU and VCU Health communities, including Eugene Trani, president emeritus of VCU and VCU Health System; Beverly Warren, president and chief executive officer of Kent State University and former VCU provost and senior vice president for academic affairs; and Edward Ayers, president emeritus of the University of Richmond.