Talking Stick - May/June 2012 - 41

LGBT is increasing. As campuses have become more sensitive to the challenges that face this population – issues related to health care, mental health, and violence – they have adopted policies to support them. The Transgender Law and Policy Institute in 2011 reported that 392 higher education institutions had policies that included gender identity/expression in their nondiscrimination clauses. In addition to policies, residential programs have begun to offer numerous housing options to accommodate these students. One of the most recent options is gender-neutral housing, which is designed to recognize that gender identification and/or gender expression does not always follow the traditional and/or legal definitions. Such housing options recognize more recent and progressive theories on gender. According to the Transgender Law and Policy Institute, as of March 2012, 418 higher education institutions offer nondiscrimination policies that include gender identity/ expression, and 81 colleges and universities provide some type of gender-inclusive housing.

spirit of the 1970s takes on a more establishment feel through groups like the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). In 2005 the group was founded with 40 members, but by 2010 there were well more than 1,000 member institutions. Another noted program is the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which is staffed and supported by the non-profit organization Second Nature and receives additional support from AASHE. As of this writing, 674 campus presidents from around the world have agreed to implement sustainability practices on their campuses and have signed a commitment letter that states, among other items, that they “recognize the need to reduce the global emission of greenhouse gases by 80 percent by mid-century at the latest, in order to avert the worst impacts of global warming and to reestablish the more stable climate conditions that have made human progress over the last 10,000 years possible.”

Access for All
Three pieces of federal legislation have guided U.S. campus housing operations in their inclusion of residents with disabilities. The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

The College Green
In early 1970 a group of students from San José State University in California visited a local auto dealership to purchase a brand new Ford Maverick. They pushed it through the streets, led by ministers, students, and a band playing funeral dirges. After they returned to campus, the car was lowered into a 12-footdeep grave to symbolize the burial of automobiles, gasoline, and the harm that they inflicted on the Earth. The car was then covered in dirt and a garden was planted. Today the early grassroots

Three pieces of federal legislation have guided U.S. campus housing operations in their inclusion of residents with disabilities: The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

May + June 2012

Talking Stick - May/June 2012

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