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Board of Directors Created
The first step in ensuring the centers future success was creating a diverse board of directors. The board was made up of 10 representatives and had people from a variety of student organizations representing marginalized communities in Madison. -
The LGBCC Grand Opening
Before the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Campus Center (LGBCC) opened in the summer of 1992, Alnisa Allgood spent an entire year fighting to make the center a reality. The UW Board of Regents rejected her attempts to create a university funded LGBCC, so Allgood instead sought funds from student segregated fees and grants. It was located in the Capitol Center complex near campus, according to a LGBCC history report. -
Founder Allgood Leaves the Center
The founder and director of the LGBCC, Alnisa Allgood, left the center to pursue her next project of working with medical providers to address adolescent and young adult HIV/AIDS issues, according to the LGBCC history report. Thus, the search for a new director began, and a new one was found in the fall of 1994. -
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Struggles with Directors and Space
According to their history report, between 1995 and 1998, the LGBCC had 4 different student directors and an interim director. Director Kristen Davis oversaw the first location change when the LGBCC moved to the Community Houses and Services Building (CHAS) on Brooks street. After the CHAS terminated their lease in 1997, Director Jack Kear found space above a shoe store on state street. And once it was clear that this space wasn't adequate, Director Erin Matas pushed to find a space on campus. -
First On-Campus location
According to their history report, during the summer of 1998, the LGBTCC was granted permission to start renting a space inside on the second floor of the Memorial Union. Interim Director Rob Buchanan oversaw the move. -
Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth
This Supreme Court case was about whether student activity fees could be used to fund political or ideological campus groups without violating the First Amendment rights of students who disagreed with these groups. This placed a spotlight was placed on the LGBTCC and other ideological student fee funded organizations. The center's director at the time, Dave O'Brien, spent lots of time doing interviews with local and national media about regarding the case, according to the LGBTCC history report. -
Shadow Day Protests
According to the LGBTCC history report, shadow day was initially a program meant to recruit a more diverse set of high school students by having them follow a UW student for a day. In a meeting just before shadow day, university officials axed the event, stating that the event was funded to recruit people of color, not LGBTQ students, even though LGBTCC staff helped during the planning for it. Protests and sit-ins were led by LGBTQ leaders on campus, and the administration eventually backed off. -
Offices of the Dean of Students Integration
After the Shadow day incident, it was clear that there needed to be a line of communication between the Dean of Students and the student body within the LGBTCC. A full-time Dean of Students position was created for the director of the LGBTCC. Eric Trekell took the new director position in August of 2003, and the LGBTCC officially became a part of the Office of the Dean of Students, according to their history report. -
Officially a UW Library
According to the LGBTCC history report, the Library Services Council of the UW granted the LGBTCC official library status in the spring of 2006. Now, resources in the LGBTCC's library would be catalogued in the larger library database, granting the center and the resources it offers even more visibility. -
New Name
According to their website, the LGBT Campus Center has undergone many name changes, the most recent being in 2018. It name changed to the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, which it has kept to this day. -
New Space
After multiple director and location changes, the GSCC seems to have found a home. According to their website, In fall of 2020, the GSCC found a new home on campus in room 137 of the Red Gym. Assistant Directors Katherine Briggs and Warren Scherer have been with the GSCC for many years. After decades of struggle to find a space to exist, the GSCC has been able to establish itself as a important resource for the campus community.