LETTER: College offers new respect

Editor,

The recent letter titled “Where’s my scholarship?” from Feb. 9 certainly provides an opportunity to explain why a scholarship program designed for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students at Utah State University has been created.

A little background is in order. Just take a look at the 2001 Human Rights Watch report or statistics compiled by the Sexual Information Education Council of the United States. As early as elementary school and certainly in high school, GLBT students face greater risks of violence, torment and suicide than their peers. Forty-two states do not offer legal protection to students based on their sexuality. I suspect a fair number of teachers and administrators, when faced with the thorny issues of homosexuality, would find it easier to remove the victim than educate the bully or seriously misinformed. The dropout rate among GLBT high school students has been estimated to be as much as three times the national average. Some students, shunned by their families, also face major economic consequences.

Things change most noticeably by the time students enter college, an environment more hospitable and nurturing than what might be faced in high school. Now settling into a climate where students hopefully feel safer and more secure about their identities, they can focus on developing their minds and fulfilling their educational dreams. The scholarships, donated generously by a Utah native and an alumnus of the university who now works in California, are part of the mentoring process that is so desperately needed for GLBT students who face such enormous pressures.

The writer’s pejorative remarks demonstrate that the educational process of sensitivity, respect and understanding is not limited to students under the age of 18.

Les Roka