The LGBT Faculty and Staff Association at Iowa State is designed to provide a social atmosphere, visibility and support for LGBT members of the faculty and staff at Iowa State.

“Our main goal is to make Iowa State a better place for LGBT faculty and staff,” said Nicci Port, administrative specialist in the College of Human Sciences and co-leader of the association. 

The association wants to bring more visibility to the fact that there are out faculty and staff members thriving at Iowa State, Port said.

“It was all about getting together, doing things together, just kind of in an indirect way, creating that community so people would feel comfortable,” Port said. 

For the last two years, the association has hosted a potluck as a welcoming event in September.

“It’s good to have folks to talk to and chat with and know that if I need something that there’s a group there that I can connect with,” said Brad Freihoefer, coordinator for LGBT Student Services.

The association has been a social group since 2004 and started working on adding a professional aspect last year, Port said. The Faculty and Staff Association began meeting with Dawn Bratsch-Prince, associate provost for faculty, last year when part of her title was chief diversity officer. Port said they still meet with her monthly.

The LGBT Faculty and Staff Association was officially recognized as a university committee this year and is sponsored by the senior vice president and provost.

“I think it’s a really good time for us to be organizing because we’ve gotten a lot of support,” Port said.

The LGBT Faculty and Staff Association works to be involved in the recruitment and retaining of LGBT faculty and staff. There are talented people in the LGBT community who may turn down a job if they think they are entering an unfriendly environment, Port said.

“There are certain stereotypes about this state, which I came in with a couple of years ago, that really freaked me out,” said Travis Chilcott, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies and co-chairman of the LGBT Faculty and Staff Association. 

The Faculty and Staff association made a big difference in Chilcott’s impressions and comfort levels at Iowa State, Chilcott said. 

“The first experience was relief,” Chilcott said. 

Chilcott considered turning down the job offer from Iowa State because he had experienced nonaccepting societies growing up in Indiana.

The provost’s office has been very supportive of the group and other faculty staff associations, Port said.

Before becoming an official committee, the association worked with Freihoefer for visibility. Their Web page was under the LGBT Student Services heading on the ISU website.

“A lot of people would find LGBT [Student Services] and go talk to Brad, then Brad would direct them to us,” Port said.

The LGBT Faculty and Staff Association attend events in the LGBT community at Iowa State and in the community. There was a group of association members who attended a rally this summer in Des Moines after the parts of the Defense of Marriage Act was overturned by the Supreme Court, Port said.

“For me personally, it has been phenomenal to work at Iowa State,” Port said.

The fact that the provost’s office wants to be supportive of all faculty and staff of all diversity is really reassuring, Port said.

Even with all the support, there are still struggles that LGBT faculty and staff face at Iowa State, Port said. LGBT Faculty and Staff Association hopes to improve Iowa State’s medical benefits for transgendered people as well as concerns on campus climate.

Members of the LGBT Faculty and Staff Association are part of a group that wants to form a committee for LGBT concerns, with membership from all LGBT groups on campus, Port said. 

“That’s going to be a nice challenge for us, but there’s a lot of people who are excited about it,” Port said.

Chilcott said setting up the organization for longevity so there is a body that can bring up LGBT related issues to central administration is very important.

“It keeps folks who are working here across dynamics wanting to stay when you’ve got a healthy vibrant community to connect with and relate to,” Freihoefer said.