Sheila Hicks '04
Women's Studies

I became involved in the GLBT community almost as soon as I came to campus freshman fall, renouncing my closeted years of high school. I soon found that the LGBT community and in particular members of the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance
(DRA) and Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) very open and welcoming. Many of the students I met during my first DRA and GSA meetings continue to be my closest friends. Noting the acceptance that I found within these groups, I decided to
come out to other people, including my classmates, dormmates and most difficultly, my teammates, as a way of celebrating National Coming Out Month.
My fears about coming out were laid aside by the acceptance I found, and it wasn't long until I made the important decision to finally come out to my parents. Though the last two years have at times been rocky as far as relations between myself and my parents are concerned, for me, the joy of no longer hiding a part of myself has outweighed any negative reactions that I have received from my family and the world at large. Even when my parent's attitudes and our arguments were really hard on me, I had the support of the queer community that I had found here and my many accepting friends and teammates to comfort me. As of late my parents have become more and more accepting of me, even including the phrase "your future partner" in their language. We still have a while to go until they will be able to fully accept my sexuality, but I know that it will happen eventually.

Tim Stanne '03
English Major

When I first came to Dartmouth, I found the gay community in transition, and I think it will be that way at least until I graduate. The Student Life Initiative (SLI), the hiring and promotion Pam Misener to full-time, the Robert Klorese ’77 and David Haney Gift, larger and larger numbers of out first-years, trips to Montreal Pride, moving and expanding the GLBTQ Resource Center, and the large amount of programming across campus have all helped the transition to remain positive and supportive. I feel as though I grew into my identity as a gay male while Dartmouth was figuring out its own self identity—its own way to incorporate its gayness into its conceptualization of itself.
Making the conscious decision to be out on the second day of my first year was not too much of a worry for me. Dartmouth was a comfortable place, and after all, I really couldn’t go back into the closet after waiting 3 years to come out in high school. I think that decision protected me, for the most part, by making friends with already open-minded people. For my first year and my sophomore year, the majority of my friends were straight or gay women and gay men—the straight men, I felt, I couldn’t relate to. It wasn’t until I was in Mexico and traveling with a group of Dartmouth students on vacation, that the wall I built (for protection) between me and straight men began to crumble because, for the first time, straight men befriended me without regard to my sexuality. Or better put, I let go of my fear of having friendship rejected with homophobic slurs and took the time to become friends with straight men.
I think that there is amazing institutional support for GLBTQ students; now students need to use that support and reach the ideals the institution hopes the students will. The general consensus on campus is that derogatory comments are not acceptable; although I do no doubt the presence of pockets of homophobia. Education, Dartmouth’s principle mission, should span from the classroom to the dinner table to social awareness programming, initiated by students to help develop a more diverse and understanding community. Community has always been a hallmark of Dartmouth’s student life, protecting it and pushing it to be more welcoming are the missions of the future classes.

Andreas Bentz
Visiting Professor of Economics

I'm Andreas Bentz - I've been working at Dartmouth as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics since 1999. I arrived here straight out of my PhD program at the University of Bristol (UK), and I still think of coming here as one of my smartest decisions.
Dartmouth, of course, is a fantastic place to work: As an institution, it has a very strong commitment to diversity, and it takes this responsibility seriously. By browsing through the College's webpages you will find that it has a very progressive non-discrimination policy; for a long time has given health benefits to same-gender partners of its employees, and so on. And if anything, the dedication to diversity of the individuals who work at Dartmouth is even stronger: being a gay employee at Dartmouth is viewed by everyone as a real asset to the College community.
I have also found Hanover a great place to live. If you enjoy outdoors activities, the mountain biking the area offers in summer, and the skiing in winter, is amongst the best on the east coast. Having said that, Hanover is a small community, and the absence of a ready-made gay social "scene" means that you have to work a little harder at creating a social life for yourself. In fact this is true whether you are gay or straight, and, for instance, most of my junior colleagues who accepted positions at Dartmouth did so knowing that they would bring their partners with them.
Overall, I would invite you to explore these webpages further to get a sense of the spirit of Dartmouth. Like every institution, Dartmouth is made up of individual people, with as many different views as there is diversity on this campus, and if you are thinking of joining the Dartmouth community, I want to encourage you to get in touch with the individuals who live and work here to collect their views on Dartmouth as an employer. And finally, if you do decide to come here, or if you already are here, have fun; make use of the terrific opportunities that both Dartmouth, and the area, offer; and bring all of your diverse professional and life experience to this campus.

Steven Swayne
Assistant Professor of Music

Spring term 2002. In my small class (six students), I had a freshman who was having trouble adjusting to college. He’d come late to our 10 a.m. class or sleep through class altogether. Grade-wise, he was struggling. But I was fairly certain that his struggle was of a different sort.
In my large class (over 60 students), I was struggling. Most students were taking the class to fulfill a graduation requirement, and “American Music” sounded like it shouldn’t demand much. But they didn’t know me, and I needed to convince them that the serious work I required would be worth their effort.
My struggling freshman never did confide in me during the term. But when he came to me after the term had ended in a belated attempt to amend his poor performance, he volunteered what I had suspected all along.
In contrast, several students in the large class decided they would befriend me. I was invited to hang out with guys on the
baseball, basketball, hockey and ski teams. The skeptic in me thought that they were angling for grades. But they were intellectually curious and socially gregarious. And I enjoyed their company.
The freshman and the athletes met at our house in Woodstock. It‚s something of a tradition that my classes come over at term’s end. I do it for a number of reasons. We have a great house. Mike and I like bringing people together. Some of my students have never set foot in the home of a gay couple. I want all of them, gay and straight, to feel more comfortable with themselves and around gay people. And it seems to work.
Students can bring their significant others with them, so the freshman brought a guy he had met in a philosophy class. Mike
asked the boyfriend, “What’s it like being gay at Dartmouth?,” who responded, “What‚s it like being anything at Dartmouth?” Obviously the boyfriend had an easier time coming to terms with being gay than did my struggling freshman.
They hung out by the pond; I hung out with the athletes in the kitchen. Whenever they invited me to their parties, they told
me I should bring Mike. One guy, tongue-in-cheek, told me he wasn’t inviting me out on a date. I responded: I was already
spoken for, and even if I wasn’t, he wasn’t my type.
Is it easy for gays and lesbians at Dartmouth? Not all of us, and not always. That same term, one of my students wrote about
the self-hatred he felt for being gay. About a week later, he and I talked. Yes, there are some of his peers, and some of mine, who loathe gays or are uncomfortable around them and who may cause gay people grief. But there are many, many more who are ready to stand by in support and acceptance.
What’s it like being gay at Dartmouth? With the right friends, staff and faculty around you, it’s like being yourself. Who could ask for anything more?

John Dolan
Assistant Director of Admissions

Admissions offices, with the necessary focus on diversity and intellectual issues of justice and fairness, tend to be extremely supportive of queer issues as a field. Dartmouth is no exception. I've found the office receptive to discussing the role and value of queer students on campus and I've had great discussions with the Dean about how to address the specific concerns of the queer community more systematically. Professionally, I am pleasantly surprised with the sensitivity and support of the queer community, from evaluating queer applicants and the contribution they would make to the Dartmouth community to understanding the concerns of the burgeoning queer applicant constituency in admissions.
Personally, I feel completely integrated into my office. I'm completely out to my co-workers and have never felt uncomfortable. I still go out for drinks with the guys, play squash with a supervisor, and get dinner with co-workers as often as anyone else. For barbecues or other social events, my co-workers always ask me to bring my boyfriend and even send out general e-mails asking for "significant others or loved ones". It's a non-issue, but I am appreciative of the sensitivity that is displayed.