Setting an agenda and assessing the climate at Iowa State for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students was the focus of a community meeting held by area activists and supporters.

The event’s organizers said the meeting was a success.

“We set some good goals; we got a couple of people to spearhead those goals. Now we need to make sure those goals are eventually realized,” said Jeremy Hayes, director of information for the LGBT Ally Alliance.

Nearly 30 people attended the meeting Thursday night at the Maintenance Shop. Although turnout was lower than coordinators had hoped for, they’re still upbeat about the results.

“I feel great about [the meeting],” said Andrea Conner, planning committee member. “It is really exciting to have come up with reachable goals.

“The people who were there had a lot to say, and they were representative of the campus,” said Conner, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies.

The attendees broke down into smaller groups to discuss where the campus has been, where it is now and where community members would like it to go.

Jeff Sorenson, adviser to the Alliance, said that in earlier years, there was “more community feeling.” He also said that in the past, there was a reason to be involved with a support group such as the Alliance because “hostility was open and tolerated.”

The attendees agreed the ISU campus has come a long way from that point, and some of them cited the Safe Zone Project as an example of improvement. The Safe Zone Project involved displaying stickers or key chains to show support for the LGBT community.

Participants also discussed the need to be a more cohesive group.

Jonathon Weaver, junior in history, said the group should be a more cohesive force, instead of separating into sub-groups of lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgender students.

Some of the plans for the future mentioned were increased community involvement, greater political awareness, sensitivity training for first-year students, increased high school outreach, support of local gay-friendly establishments and collaboration with other minority groups.

Even though there was no official discussion of a similar meeting for the future, Hayes, sophomore in management information systems, said it may be necessary.

“Give us time to work on goals,” he said. “Come back and re-evaluate.”