MACOMB, IL — During Summer 2014 orientation and registration sessions, incoming Western Illinois University students were asked about their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, making WIU among the first universities to directly ask students about sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.
According to Craig Tollini, chair of the University Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression ( UCOSOGIE ), having this information will aid the University's efforts to provide resources and programming to students. This is another indication of WIU's commitment to diversity, which can also be seen in the creation of the LGBTQA Resource Center and the proposal of a Queer Studies minor, he added.
The question about sexual orientation, as well as a more inclusive question about gender identity/expression was included in the College Student Inventory ( CSI ), a survey designed for incoming WIU freshmen and select transfer students. Asking this question on the CSI also differentiates WIU from other universities that asks students about their sexual orientation, as those other universities have included questions on their application materials. The question specifically states, "What is your sexual orientation?" with the choices of Straight/Heterosexual, Bisexual/Pansexual, Gay/Lesbian/Homosexual, Questioning and Asexual. Of the 1,548 students who completed the CSI, 92.4 percent selected straight or heterosexual, 3.4 percent selected bisexual or pansexual, 1.1 percent selected gay, lesbian, or homosexual, .5 percent selected questioning and .3 percent selected asexual. Thirty-seven students preferred not answer the question.
UCOSOGIE had requested that these questions be included in the CSI to provide the WIU community with an initial and partial benchmark of the sexual orientation of its students.
"Having these questions present on a survey further illustrates this University's commitment to diversity in regards to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and asking students about their sexual orientation and gender identity enables us to better see the diversity that already exists in the WIU community," Tollini explained.
Tollini added that information about sexual orientation has not been gathered from all WIU students and that incoming students may change how they identify as they gain a better sense of and are more comfortable with their sexuality. UCOSOGIE will continue to gather and track this data, and it is also reviewing the possibility of creating an email list so students can be made aware of activities, events and organizations, such as Unity, the LGBTQA student organization at WIU.
"While UCOSOGIE could be provided with the names of the students who identify as anything other than straight, the student's specific orientation will not be provided to the committee, nor would we share that information," he pointed out.
For more information on UCOSOGIE, and Unity, visit wiu.edu/equal_opportunity_and_access/ucoso and purplepost.wiu.edu/organization/unity/about. For more information about the LGBTQA Resource Center, visit wiu.edu/student_services/lgbtqa .
