Trinity University

The Office of University Communications
pr@trinity.edu
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Jan. 31, 2012

LGBT History Project Solicits Memories

Trinity University alumni, faculty, and staff encouraged to share campus experiences

By Yue "Rella" Zhang '13

SAN ANTONIO - Trinity University researchers are documenting stories about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) experiences across many decades on Trinity Hill. To enrich the project, they are seeking memories from alumni, faculty, and staff.

After learning of history projects that sought to uncover untold stories of LGBT people  at Tufts University and Oberlin College in 2007, Richard Reams, associate director of Counseling Services at Trinity, originated a similar project for the Trinity community.

The value in telling and sharing the stories of the LGBT community at Trinity is to reflect on the unique joys and challenges - especially from the 1950s through the 1990s - that gave rise to the University overcoming social stigma and moving toward becoming a welcoming community, Reams said.

Religion Professor Emeritus Douglas Brackenridge, author of Trinity University: A Tale of Three Cities, provided materials collected while researching his book and advised Reams in preparation for interviewing Trinity leaders and professors. To date, Reams has recorded interviews with former and present professors and administrators Coleen Grissom, Ronald Calgaard, Raymond Judd, Thurman Adkins, O.Z. White, and Matthew Stroud regarding their knowledge of the academic, extracurricular, and social experiences of LGBT members of the Trinity community.

The comprehensive LGB questionnaire  has just been launched as the culmination of a five-year preparation process. Respondents have the option of using their name or remaining anonymous through the use of a pseudonym. Reams also recruited Amy Stone, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at Trinity, to assist in the development of a transgender questionnaire for all alumni, faculty, and staff.

As part of their project, researchers also hope to receive LGBT memorabilia for the University archives, which will also receive memories collected through the questionnaires. 

Reams, Brackenridge, and Stone envision writing an LGBT history of Trinity based on the memories and memorabilia they receive. Additionally, Stone is researching the LGBT history of San Antonio for her next book, making Trinity's LGBT history project doubly important.

Text provided by Yue "Rella" Zhang, a junior student majoring in marketing at Trinity University. She is an intern at the Office of University Communications.