The University Counseling Center’s Safe Space Program which held its first training session earlier this semester, and will be offering another opportunity for the students, staff and faculty to become involved with the group.

The Safe Space Program is being coordinated along with the Dukes of Orleans student organization.  The next training session for the Safe Space program will be held in February of the spring 2012 semester.

“The training will just be one day,” said University Counseling Center Director and Counselor Barbara Hebert. It will be broken down into two parts and will be only half a day.

The first part of the training will be for those who have not previously been trained so they will know how to be a resource for lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersexed and transgender students (LGBTQ).

The second part of the training will be more advanced and only available to those who have completed the beginning training.

“Two of the university’s core values are diversity and caring,” said Eric Johnson, director of Sims Memorial Library. “Gay students very often have a rougher time in college than their straight counterparts.”

Along with providing support and assistance, the Safe Space Program is also trying to open up a dialogue between gay and straight students to promote an atmosphere of tolerance and inclusion.

Once the students have completed their training, they will receive a decal indicating that they are a safe resource for LGBTQ students.

“We will probably do this every semester,” said Johnson. “We would like to see Safe Space logos on office doors in every department across the campus so that LGBTQ students will know that Southeastern is a safe environment for them and that there are people everywhere who care about their concerns.”

Any student looking for more information on the Safe Space Program can contact Eric Johnson at ejohnson@selu.edu or Barbara Hebert at bhebert@selu.edu.