DePaul University held the first-ever Out and Greek National LGBT & Ally Fraternity & Sorority Leadership Conference Nov. 14-16 in Lincoln Park. Approximately 85 student leaders from colleges and universities around the nation attended.
A major attraction at the conference on Nov. 15 was a question-and-answer session with T.J. Sullivan, a national speaker and leader of fraternity and sorority life and co-founder and CEO of CAMPUSPEAK, an agency that represents college speakers.
This Saturday was the first time Sullivan ever sat down with a roomful of college students for a Q&A session. He titled it "Refusing to Ask Permission" because his most important message was making LGBT youth understand they need to quit begging for approval from everyone and to have self-confidence.
"There is power in being exactly who you are and not being apologetic and not asking people 'is this okay?' said Sullivan. "Just be who you are; be confident."
Even though Sullivan is used to speaking to groups of people with CAMPUSPEAK, he said it was easier to answer questions about him being an adoptive father of a 15-year-old son or a business owner than it was to talk about being a gay man during the Q&A session.
"Ask me a list of things what I identify myself as and gay is far down on the list," said Sullivan, 40, who attended Indiana University for college and is still a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.
Lambda 10 Project, who works to educate fraternities and sororities on LGBT issues, sponsored the conference. Lambda 10 Project is a program of the national nonprofit organization, Campus Pride, which consists of student leaders and campus organizations who work to create a safe and friendly atmosphere for LGBT students at their school.
There were students at the conference from Vermont, California, Florida, and Alabama, to name a few, said Shane Windmeyer, national coordinator for the conference and cofounder and executive director of Campus Pride.
Natalie Shaak, assistant director for fraternity and sorority life at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said she came to the conference to learn how to make the school's campus more friendly and welcoming to LGBT students.
Jim Breen, treasurer of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Drexel, accompanied Shaak. Breen said there are a lot of closeted gay students on his campus and he wanted to come learn ways to start conversations dealing with those struggling students.
Breen said the workshop session earlier in the day called "Faithfully Gay," hosted by Justin Hager from University Of Wisconsin-Madison, was "absolutely amazing" because it "hit hard" on discussing different religions and being an out person of faith.
Hager, a student co-chair for the conference, also was scheduled to host a "Bible 101" workshop the evening of Nov. 15 that discussed what the Bible says about LGBT people.
Hager said he enjoyed the session with Sullivan because he agreed that LGBT youth should not be afraid about losing friends by being who they truly are.
They need to learn to be comfortable saying to their fraternity brothers or sorority sisters "I'm here and I need your validity and I need your acceptance," Hager said.
Other events during Saturday's conference included workshops called "LGBT Identity Theory," "Hazing: How do you Break Harmful Traditions" and "Greek Allies."
"Greek Allies" was led by Paddy Lindley, president of Greek Allies at University of Illinois-Champaign. He talked to students about how to join the LGBT and Greek fraternity/sorority communities on their campuses and how to eliminate the stereotypes that go along with those two communities.
Jessica Pettitt, social justice and diversity consultant and facilitator with CAMPUSPEAK lead "Starting the Conversation, Trans Inclusion & Greek Life," where she went through the first ever created transgender resource Guide, "Beginning the Conversation," which she co-authored.
The guide includes definitions of what it means to be transgender, how one can be an ally to transgender people and real life experiences from transgender students part of a fraternity or sorority.
T. Michael Trimm, a student at Ohio's Kent State University and a member of Delta Lambda Phi, attended the conference and contributed his real-life story to the guide.
"A fraternity for and by gay, bisexual and progressive men, DLP welcomed me with open arms from the first rush event up to my initiation," Trimm said. "I have found a brotherhood of men who see me for who I am, a man. My being trans has no bearing on my fraternity membership and I wouldn't have it any other way."
Windmeyer said he would like to continue the conference every year but is not sure where next year's would be held.
"Having this conference is history," he said.
