The largest GLBT resource center at any public institution of higher education in the U.S. opened on the campus of the University of California, San Diego on May 6.

UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and current students and representatives of the San Diego GLBT community spoke at Saturday’s opening ceremony, which was followed by a tour of the new space, offered by the UCSD student organization Queer People of Color.

Queer by Nature, a queer outdoor actives group, continued festivities with an afternoon barbecue and evening bonfire at the beach on La Jolla Shores, and LGBTQIA hosted a dance at the Stage at Porter’s Pub. The grand opening festivities completed a week of events focusing on the GLBT community, UCSD’s annual Out and Proud week.

LGBT Resource Center director Shaun Travers said the need for a GLBT center was documented in numerous reports over the course of several years, from 1992 to 1998. A request from a single student representing the UCSD student organization Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queen/Questioning Intersex Association (LGBTQIA) initiated the process, and an ad hoc committee was established that was assisted by other university groups. The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on LGBT issues (CACLGBTI) then recommended a staffed resource center, which resulted in a formal proposal submitted to then Chancellor Robert Dynes in September 1998.

The original reports submitted to the chancellor were mostly anecdotal, Travers said.

“The anecdotes focused on some of the most egregious things that had happened, because we were trying to show that we really needed a place to build community,” he said.

The formal proposal presented to Dynes in 1998 detailed the approximate square footage necessary as well as other specific recommendations, including a computer lab, a conference room and other aspects.

“They said: ‘Here’s the staffing and the classification of the staffing that needs to be at the resource center. Here’s the computer equipment that we need to have,’” Travers said. “It was that degree of clarity and that degree of commitment to doing the research to prove what needed to happen.”

After a formal dialogue between the CACLGBTI and the Chancellor’s Office, Dynes appointed a steering committee in March 1999 to establish the LGBT Resource Center, and allocated a set of rooms and a budget for operations and staff. Dynes formally dedicated the initial temporary LGBT Resource Center on Nov. 8, 1999.

Travers said the initial space was only 300 square feet, much different than the cutting-edge 2,700-square-foot facility they are in today.

“It didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen without a lot of work [from] an amazing amount of faculty, staff and students coming together and saying this needs to happen,” he said.

Travers started in May 2001 as the LGBT Resource Center’s first full-time director. Up until then, the center was only staffed by part-time employees and students. Now it has three full-time employees and eight student employees.

In February 2002, the resource office was renamed a center and moved to a larger, 960-square-foot transitional location housed within a trailer, before moving to the new space in March of that year.

The new space was constructed as part of a multi-building project, representing about an $800,000 capital investment, Travers said. Final approval for the new building was given in early 2003.

Jim Brown and James Gates, chief partners from the San Diego architecture firm PUBLIC, designed the new building, which is located in the heart of the UCSD campus in between Mandeville Center and the original student center.

The LGBT Resource Center contains the David Bohnett Wireless Cyber Center (a computer lab composed entirely of laptop computers), a large community space, conference room, meeting room, staff offices, community kitchen and an extensive browsing library containing over 2,100 books, films and journals.

Usage of the new space is growing rapidly. Travers said before the move, the LGBT Resource Center averaged 150-160 unique users weekly. Since reopening on March 7 this year, the center has averaged 260 users per week for the first four weeks the doors were open, and during the week of April 17, there were 343 visitors. Travers said users include students, staff, faculty, alumni and guests.

The LGBT Resource Center houses several GLBT organizations, including: LGBTQIA, Queer People of Color (QPOC), Queer By Nature, Queer Peer Support Program (QPSP), Queer Womyn’s Coalition, Fluid Sexuality, Queering Gender, Men’s Group, Women’s Group and the Umbrella Group.

The resource center is a member of the UCSD Campus Community Centers, along with the Women’s Center and the Cross-Cultural Center. The Campus Community Centers collaborate on a variety of programs and issues through joint activities and events.

During the academic school year, hours at the LGBT Resource Center are from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 to 4:30 p.m. on Friday. During the summer, hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Friday. For more information, call (858) 822-3493, e-mail rainbow@ucsd.edu or visit http://lgbt.ucsd.edu.