Students, faculty celebrate LGBTQ minor

Students, faculty and staff members remembered the past and celebrated the new LGBTQ minor during a reception September 9 in the Kirkhof Center.

Kathleen Underwood, director of Women and Gender Studies, said talk about establishing the minor began in the 1990s when WGS became an academic department. She credited Milt Ford, first director of Grand Valley’s LGBT Resource Center and professor of liberal studies, with beginning the conversation.

“Those of us who know Milt know he would say this has been a long time coming to Grand Valley, and in other ways, he would say it came quickly,” Underwood said.

The minor was approved by the Board of Trustees in April; it is housed in WGS. Anne Hiskes, dean of the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, said the minor embodies the liberal education mission of Grand Valley by promoting critical thinking and innovative collaborations with campus departments like the Women’s Center and LGBT Resource Center and community partners.

For more about the courses included in the minor, visit www.gvsu.edu/lgbtq.