Dear UC San Diego LGBTQIA+ community and our allies,
At this time of public health crisis, the physical space of the UC San Diego LGBT Resource Center is closed. However, we know we are stronger together than apart. Our LGBTQIA+ community has learned this lesson through many crises before. In this COVID-19 public health crisis, that means we must be even more diligent in connecting with each other remotely via all means at our disposal.
A particular feature of our community is how many of us often create chosen families, communities and connections that sustain us in powerful, important ways. Rely on them, friends! That is why we create them, and they can support us.
However, these chosen groups are often not the ones we “go home” to - and home might be a residence hall, an apartment, a parent or relative’s home, or other living circumstance.
For our student community, the reality of “going home” may bring up particular issues of safety and identity. The most recent announcement from UC San Diego allows for residents on campus to stay if they are “unable to relocate without high risk to their safety…” Let’s be clear, this may apply to our LGBTQIA+ community, and do not hesitate to stay on campus if this makes sense for you given your identity, and what it means for you to “go home.”
As you finish finals, and move through a spring break that may require high degrees of physical isolation, remember you can connect virtually to an entire community. The tools of social media, for all their flaws, may serve well as a proxy for the physical proximity that so often is the hallmark of coming to University (and the LGBT Resource Center). Of course, phone calls, video chats, and other online hangouts can create community in important ways.
For our communities that are working for UC San Diego, including all of the employees of the LGBT Resource Center, we will persevere as we imagine a remote work life. The switch to remote learning will stretch the bounds of academic life in many unexpected ways. UC San Diego is deploying as many resources as it can while we imagine teaching, learning and research differently in this time of crisis. Our patience, commitment and flexibility will be vital as we work together (while physically apart) to support the academic mission of UC San Diego.
For all our community, know that we are here for you. The UC San Diego LGBT Resource Center career staff is available and accessible remotely for consultation, connection and conversation. Building community is what we do - even remotely! Contact us if you want to set up a time either over the phone or via Zoom: Shaun Travers,
[email protected]
; Maribel Gomez,
[email protected]
; Korie Houston,
[email protected]
. For Finals Week and Spring Break, our regular hours for remote work remain the same as if the Center were open: Monday through Friday, 8am-4:30pm.
As the Spring Quarter begins and our undergraduate student-staff (i.e. our interns) return, we will begin to determine, and then share, how our virtual UC San Diego LGBT Resource Center will function remotely.
For the next two weeks, continue to take good care.
Sincerely,
Shaun, Maribel and Korie
The staff of UC San Diego’s LGBT Resource Center
