Consortium Annual Report 2024

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Consortium Mission & Vision Vision: We envision higher education environments where LGBTQ people, inclusive of all of our intersecting identities, are fully liberated.

Mission: The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals is a member-based organization working towards the liberation of LGBTQ people in higher education. We support individuals who work on campuses to educate and support people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as advocate for more inclusive policies and practices through an intersectional and racial justice framework.

The Consortium does this through: ●​ Education: We offer best and promising practices through a variety of professional development opportunities. Most notably via monthly webinars, day-long institutes, and the development of documents aimed at addressing specific areas that affect LGBTQ communities. ●​ Empowerment & Support: We cultivate networks of higher education professionals advocating for and supporting LGBTQ communities on their campuses, by working towards meaningful inter-generational engagement, providing pipeline support for queer and trans people of color (QTPOC), and connecting members in Consortium constituency groups. ●​ Collaborative Engagement: We foster collaborative relationships with higher education institutions and other organizations in our efforts to advocate for more just and inclusive colleges and universities.

Land Acknowledgement As higher education 2SLGBTQIA+ practitioners committed to a racial justice framework in our work, we recognize that settler colonialism, anti-Blackness, and white supremacy are imbricated in our current educational structures. These systems of power directly influence how we understand and view gender and sexuality today.

We also understand the limits of how land acknowledgments are used and framed in higher education.

Therefore, we are committed to moving and thinking beyond this practice to be answerable to Indigenous peoples and nations and engage in decolonial ways of envisioning and creating higher education environments where 2SLGBTQIA+people, inclusive of all of our intersecting identities, are fully liberated.

The Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Professionals is physically located on the traditional homelands of the Lenape Tribe of the Munsee Nation (Munsee Lenape) and the Mohican Nation on the island known as Mannahatta in Lenapehoking, now called Manhattan.

We encourage those in our community to know and recognize whose ancestral and unceded homelands you live upon. You can learn more at: https://native-land.ca/.

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Reflection from the Directors This past year was an opportunity for our organization to continue to build and strengthen itself through membership and Board engagement, particularly given the precarious and challenging environment for LGBTQ+ practitioners across the country.

The Board underwent some key leadership transitions this year. In January 2024, we appointed Roman Christiaens as the Organizational Operations Collective (OOC) Director, and in July 2024, Michelle Wallace was elected in a special election as the Membership Engagement Collective Director. Additionally, we welcomed a new member to our team–Hilary Murmers–as part of the OOC whose work focuses on membership support. We are grateful for their leadership and the fresh perspectives they bring to our organization.

In addition to these leadership changes, the Board gathered for a retreat in Michigan, where we recommitted to our mission around racial justice and examined how to deepen this both within our work, our membership, and as individuals on this board. Additionally, this space allowed us the opportunity to spend time reflecting on the history of not only our organization but our professions, and being able to think about how to preserve that in our changing political situation. During this time, we reflected on the importance of preserving the lessons from our history, and the progress we have made. As a result, we voted to establish a new Historian position within the organization, recognizing the need to document and honor our collective knowledge and impact. This position will be housed under the Committee on Advocacy and Community (CAC).

Throughout the year, we made significant strides in forging new partnerships, developing guiding documents, and creating opportunities for deeper engagement within our field. We remain committed to evolving and adapting to the changing socio-political landscape as we move forward. A key focus will be seeking new avenues for funding to sustain our work and increase our long-term financial viability. We look forward to continuing our strategic planning at the retreat before ACPA and to connecting with you all at ACPA this year.

We would also like to express our deep gratitude to the board members who are concluding their terms this year: Andrew Herridge, Roman Christiaens, and Nicole Newsome. We also want to welcome the incoming board members who will join us in June (Vanessa González-Siegel, Cornelius Baker, Jeremy Torres, Em Huang, and Alison Park). Additionally, we are pleased to have Jeff Maliskey continuing on in their position as the Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator in CAC, and Nicole taking on a new role as the inaugural Fundraising Coordinator for OOC. We look forward to the continued growth and vitality they will bring to our organization.

Given the results of the 2024 presidential election, we know that the threats to our work will only continue to gain momentum. We look to you, our members, to continue our collective fight for more just and equitable campuses for all LGBTQIA2S+ people. These years will certainly bring strife and heartache and we hope that our community of practitioners can serve as a refuge and a resource.

With love and solidarity,​ Jesse Beal, Roman Christiaens, and Michelle Wallace

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Changes & Updates to the Consortium Board In 2024, one of the Board’s focuses was on filling position vacancies. The Board voted to appoint Roman Christiaens as the director of internal relations to finish out the current term ending in June 2025. In the Spring 2024 elections, we did not have any candidates for the membership engagement director position. This resulted in holding a special election in June; Michelle Wallace won the election for the MEC director.

At the summer Board retreat, it was decided to move the Consortium’s election cycle to occur in the fall between September and December. This move allowed for greater recruitment of Board applicants and established a longer transition period for newly elected Board members. Following the summer retreat, the Board voted to create a Historian position within the Community & Advocacy Collective to assist with internal and external archives. The position was designed to be collaborative with external partners to document the history of our functional area in higher education as QT centers continue to close and positions are eliminated across the nation. The Historian term will begin in June 2025.

Another focus of the Board was to re-evaluate how we continue to uphold our commitment to racial justice.

Over the past year, the Board integrated professional development and ongoing discussion on various topics of racial justice during Board meetings. This was intentional in dedicating personal and professional growth and understanding to better serve our community and evaluate how racial justice shows up in each Board position, Collective, and the Consortium board as a whole.

Acknowledgment of Service We want to thank Dr. Kristopher Oliveira for his service on the Consortium Board as the MEC Director.

Kristopher played a pivotal role in helping navigate us through our Board structure changes, supporting our membership engagement, and moving the Consortium forward. We are forever grateful for your service.

Updated Board Structure

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2024 Consortium Board Members Directors ●​ Dr. Kristopher Oliveria (term ended June 2024) - Membership Engagement Director ●​ Michelle Wallace (term began June 2024) - Membership Engagement Director ●​ Roman Christiaens - Internal Relations Director ●​ Jesse Beal - Community & Advocacy Director Membership Engagement Collective ●​ Dr. Andrew Herridge - Region Reps Coordinator ●​ des Velázquez - Communications & Affinity Calls Coordinator ●​ Michelle Wallace (term ended June 2024) - Community Education Coordinator ●​ Lorant Peeler - Professional Development Coordinator Organizational Operations Collective ●​ Hilary Murmer - Membership Coordinator ●​ Nicole Newsome - Marketing & Communications Coordinator ●​ Vacant - Fundraising Coordinator ●​ Lo Denmon - Finances & Taxes Coordinator Community & Advocacy Collective ●​ Dr. Jeff Maliskey - Advocacy & Outreach Coordinator ●​ Dr. Sarah Simi Cohen - Practice & Research Coordinator

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Board Retreat 2024 ​ This past summer, the Consortium ExecutiveBoard was able to host its first in-person summer Board retreat since the last one in the summer of 2018. In late July, the Board spent a few days in Ann Arbor, MI where the University of Michigan’s Spectrum Center hosted us for a weekend. We arrived on Friday for some local exploration, engaged in an intensive full-day on Saturday, and finished up with a half day on Sunday. Over the three days, we worked on several important projects and engaged in collective conversations about our status as an organization and how we might anticipate and move through the continued challenges that LGBTQ+ work and DEI work broadly in higher education are facing around being delimited and defunded.

At the beginning of the retreat, the Board revisited and strengthened our commitment to racial justice, setting strategic collective and organizational priorities for the upcoming academic year. We discussed the results of the recently released Consortium Member Needs Assessment report and identified a transparent response to membership about how we will seek to improve upon our areas of growth. We talked about our forthcoming involvement with ACPA, region rep restructuring, our budget and timeline for FY25, and engaged in a year mapping activity. Our time together renewed our commitment to the work of queer and trans liberation, and to our membership, as we grew as individuals and as a Board together. Overall, our summer retreat was an incredible experience. It provided us an opportunity to connect with each other and engage in the necessary, intentional, and equity-oriented work to sustain our organization during these tenuous times.

Consortium Board members. Back row, left to right: Andrew Herrdige, Jeff Maliskey, Roman Christiaens, Jesse Beal.

Middle row, left to right: Sarah Simi Cohen, Hilary Murmers, Lo Denmon, Nicole Newsome, Lorant Peeler, des Velázquez.

Front row: Michelle Wallace

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Highlights from the Year Policy and Practice Engagement Consortium Needs Assessment In April 2024, the Consortium released the Member Needs Assessment Report which outlined the needs and experiences of members and 2SLGBTQIA+ resource professionals. Responses from the study were collected from October 19, 2022, to March 1, 2023, with 78 members who completed the survey. Four primary themes emerged from the findings: ●​ Tenuous Campus Climate: an unstable, unreliable, and precarious campus environment for LGBTQIA2S+ work. ●​ Organizational Challenges: the systemic and administrative barriers to enacting queer and trans justice and liberation imposed by institutions of higher education ●​ Members Seeking Community: the desires and needs, met and unmet, of Consortium membership for connection and kinship with one another. ●​ Opportunities and Resistance: the ways in which members are resisting this sociopolitical moment.

The study team included Jesse Beal, Roman Christiaens, Andrew Herridge, Nicole Newsome, and Kristopher Oliveira. They charged the Consortium Board to respond to the findings with a plan of action to meet the needs of our membership.

Board Response The Consortium Member Needs Assessment publication ended with a call for the Executive Board to respond to the information and needs established within it, which resulted in the release of the Executive Board Response in October 2024. The response featured four key takeaways and priority areas of improvement to guide our actions moving forward: 1.​ Shifting to Meet the Needs of the State of the Field As higher education shifts alongside our sociopolitical climate, it is important for us as an organization to develop action items that reinforce our intersectional and racial justice framework. This has a direct impact on our member engagement, policy, and research.

2.​ Maximizing Our Resources We need to develop an action plan that maximizes our resources for the sustainability of our organization.

3.​ Understanding the Positionality of the Consortium As a volunteer organization, we have a responsibility to our membership and also a commitment to advancing our work towards the liberation of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in higher education, but within our capacity.

7 4.​ Increased Community Belonging and Engagement As a member-based organization, we have a responsibility to provide opportunities for engagement and community belonging to those who invest in our work.

The response also included action items currently underway or planned to begin within the next year that address these specific takeaways.

2024 Guidance on Supporting Transgender and Nonbinary Students​ On June 28, 2025, the Consortium released a new guidance document on supporting Transgender and Nonbinary students entitled, Promising Policies and Practices for Supporting Trans and Nonbinary People in Postsecondary Education. The guidance document replaced two historical documents by the Consortium, Suggested Best Practices for Supporting Trans* Students (June 2014) and Suggested Best Practices for Asking Sexual Orientation and Gender on College Applications (April 2015). The project management of the Trans and Nonbinary Policy Working Group was provided by Dr. Sarah Simi Cohen, practice and research coordinator, and Jesse Beal, community and advocacy director. Members of the working group included: Dr. Debbie Bazarsky, Dr. Genny Beemyn, Roman Christiaens, Dr. D.A. Dirks, Dr. Chris Hinesley, Dr. Chicora Martin, Clar Gobuyan, and Des Velázquez, Dr. Sarah Simi Cohen, and Jesse Beal.

Launch of QTBIPOC Guidance In April 2016, we released an initial set of guidance for Supporting Trans and Queer Students of Color. Eight years later, we understood the imperative of releasing a new set of updated guidance. Racial justice has always been a core tenet and incorporated throughout all of the work that we do, and as the sociopolitical climate grows with hate-filled policies and attitudes, it became abundantly clear that we must have a renewed approach to our original guidance. Thus, we reached out to two long-standing leaders in our field– Van Bailey and War Scherer– who have been relentless in their efforts for intersectional justice, with a focus on QTBIPOC communities. We asked for them to help co-lead the QTBIPOC Working Group, with the intention of both releasing new guidance for Supporting Trans and Queer Students of Color and helping to lead national conversations on prioritizing racial justice in our work.

After meeting with both leaders, they agreed to co-lead this initiative. However, weeks after that meeting in early October of 2024, War was silently removed from per director level position due to national anti-DEI policies and institutional overcompliance. War’s removal was an immense loss to the field and a devastating realization of our collective futures without immediate and urgent change. Following War’s removal, we have yet to solidify a timeline or approach to address this work or create a new set of guidelines. Much has happened and changed since October of 2024, and we are extremely grateful to both War and Van for considering and agreeing to co-lead during a time when things were slightly less dire. However, as we move into the upcoming fiscal year and semester, we will revisit this conversation with both War and Van to assess their capacity to co-lead the QTBIPOC Working Group amidst a new set of upcoming challenges, oppressive institutional policies, and what quite literally feels like an entire world on fire.

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Response to Anti-LGBTQ+ and Anti-DEI Legislation, Policy, and Practice In 2024, we released a series of statements on the impacts of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-DEI legislation, policy, and practice. These statements addressed the growing concerns we have as an organization for the field of higher education and the community as a whole. In February 2024, with a heavy heart, we addressed the death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old nonbinary Choctaw student who had attended Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma. Nex was brutally attacked in school, later hospitalized after school officials failed to follow policy and procedures, and then tragically passed. Our statement called attention to how systems of oppression continue to impact educational institutions and how the brutal violence that ended Nex’s life robbed them of their future, a future of being a college student at one of our colleges and universities. What happened to Nex is a constant reminder of the violent legacy of our current educational systems and other system forms of violence that continue to erase Indigenous queer, trans, and/or Two Spirit peoples and how they continue to contribute to the overarching systems of oppression in which we work and exist in higher education.

In March 2024, following our engagement at ACPA, we were met with news of Alabama passing anti-DEI legislation to defund programs and services in higher education. We issued a statement to brief membership of our engagement at ACPA and reiterated the growing concerns that anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-DEI legislative actions have on our members and the voices we hear of increased fears, exhaustion, and difficulty in supporting one another and students in this work. We centered our statement on expressing ways we can hold on to hope, to dream, to love, and to hold space that works toward our collective liberation. We encouraged membership to engage with the Consortium to find those spaces of support and continue to navigate the challenges through individual and collective strength, resistance, and determination.

Call to Action: Student Affairs Leadership’s Failure to Protect and Support QT Resource Practitioners On November 14, 2024, we issued a press release to call upon college and university leaders and the field of student affairs to protect and support queer and trans resource practitioners and our work in higher education.

The press release brought attention to the termination of Petey Peterson from their position as the director of the Office of Gender & Sexual Diversity at Tulane University and of the reassigned position of Warren Scherer who was the director of the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The two cases are high-profile examples of an escalating phenomenon in higher education where queer and trans practitioners are being terminated, reassigned, and pushed out of their jobs for doing their jobs. Additionally, Consortium members had reported having their social media surveillance while being instructed they cannot talk about politics and are facing disciplinary action for advocating for their communities.

In tandem with navigating treacherous campus climates and an increasingly hostile political landscape with biased media attacks, our field and work are under threat not only by external institutional forces but also by the pressures to over-comply due to the fear of litigation. The press release was a call to action for college and university leaders, especially in student affairs, to take the threats to our work seriously and to protect queer and trans resource work and practitioners.

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Center Awareness Day Webinar: Intersectional Racial Justice in Action: Strengthening Our LGBTQIA+ Centers and Communities Amid Global Crises In October 2024, we held our annual Center Awareness Day Webinar. Center Awareness Day is celebrated annually on October 19th to honor, appreciate, bring awareness to, and call for the support of LGBTQ+ Resource Centers across the country. This year, in light of both the sociopolitical climate and our re-dedicated commitment to racial justice, our theme centered on intersectional racial justice, uplifting our QTBIPOC communities, and how to channel our collective grief and rage towards community-building and actionable strategies for lasting change. Both the Community and Advocacy Collective (CAC) and the Membership Engagement Collective (MEC) worked together to curate a panel of speakers and organize and promote the event. We had two panelists: Luis Garay (Director of the Gender & LGBTQIA Center at Elon University), Vanessa González-Siegel (Director of the LGBTQ Campus Resource Center at UCLA), and Gabriel RodrÍguez Lemus (Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Texas at Austin) was the moderator for the discussion. The questions and subsequent discussion centered around how to best support QTBIPOC students amidst global crises, growing hateful climates on our campuses, and how we must be intentional and intersectional in our approaches to this work.

A.S.K. Partnership This year, the Consortium entered a partnership with Active Minds and MTV to promote A.S.K - an acronym for Acknowledge, Support, and to Keep-In-Touch; a resource designed to foster a culture of empathy and understanding around mental health. Throughout the year we have offered ways for our members to engage with Active Minds to access support resources for themselves and students. We will continue to promote and explore ways in which we can use the tools to support students and our work as we navigate the current sociopolitical context filled with the continued closures of queer and trans resource centers, increased anti-DEI and anti-LGBT+ legislation, and the toll this all has on our mental and emotional health.

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Member Engagement and Education American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Annual Convention In 2024 the Consortium hosted its first pre-convention at the ACPA 2024 Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The pre-convention was titled, Imagining LGBTQIA2S+ Justice and Equity in Higher Education and focused on community building and innovative strategies to address increasingly hostile climates for LGBTQIA2S+ people on campus. Sessions included: ●​ ●​ ●​ ●​ ●​

The State of QT Diversity Work in Higher Education Our Political Context: Exploring Threats to Our Work Topic-based Roundtable Discussions Organizational Challenges to QT Justice Work in Higher Education Worldbuilding, Freedom Dreaming and Liberatory Praxis in QT Centered Work: Scholar/Practitioner Panel ●​ At the Heart of Our Work: Advocacy & Actions ●​ Celebrating the Work: Our Results, Wins, and Gratitude The Consortium created an Educational Partnership Agreement with ACPA for committed pre-convention sessions at the ACPA 2025 and 2026 annual conventions.

Consortium Board Sessions​ Also at the ACPA Annual Convention in March 2024, members of the Trans and Nonbinary Policy Group presented, Promising Policies and Practices for Supporting Tarns & Nonbinary Students. The session was an overview of the new guidelines that were later released in June 2024. The members that presented included: Jesse Beal, Dr. Chris Hinesley, Dr. Genny Beemyn, Des Velázquez, Dr. Sarah Simi Cohen, and Roman Christiaens (pictured right).

Consortium Board members also presented on The State of the Field for LGBTQIA2S+ Resource Center Practitioners. The session focused on findings from the Consortium’s member needs assessment and the future work of gender and sexuality resource centers in higher education. The presenters were Dr. Kristopher Oliveira, Dr. Andrew Herridge, Roman Christiaens, Jesse Beal, and Nicole Newsome.

11 Social Engagements The Consortium also hosted social engagements at ACPA 2025 for members: ●​ Consortium & ACPA Coalition for Sexuality & Gender Identities Brunch ●​ Consortium ACPA Social & Sober Social ​

NASPA 2024 Annual Convention The Consortium also had engagement at the NASPA 2024 annual convention. Dr. Chicora Martin, Dr. Debbie Bazarsky, & Dr. D.A. Dirks, members of the Trans and Nonbinary Policy Group presented on, Promising Policies & Practices for Supporting Trans & Nonbinary Students alongside Dr. Sarah Simi Cohen and Roman Christiaens. Board Members Lo Denmon, Sarah Simi Cohen, and Roman Christiaens also co-hosted the Consortium & NASPA Gender & Sexuality Knowledge Community Social.

Consortium Drive-In The Consortium’s Virtual Drive-In and Annual Business Meeting was held on April 26th, 2024. Titled We Aren’t In This Alone: Embracing Collective Strength, this member summit focused on collaboration and mutual support across and beyond the field of LGBTQ+ student services. The keynote was a featured panel entitled “We Were Advocates” with Eric Anglero, Dr. Erica Friedman, and Dr. Tegra Myanna (moderated by Dr. Kristopher Olivera) speaking on the tension between increasing administrative oversight and our role in pushing back against our own institutions and systems on behalf of the LGBTQ+ communities relying on us.

Individual, member-hosted sessions included: ●​ Desire, Refusal, World-Making, and Underworlding: Transfeminist Praxis in Higher Education - Roman Christiaens ●​ Friendraising & Fundraising Fundamentals - Dr. Kip Sorgen ●​ Supervising Advocates: Tensions and New Possibilities - Jesse Beal ●​ Promising Policies & Practices for Supporting Trans and Nonbinary Students - Dr. Sarah Simi Cohen and des Velázquez ●​ Before They Arrive: Supporting LGBTQ+ Students During Their College Search - Dr. Genny Beemyn, Robert Powers, and Brad Ward This year, the Virtual Drive-In additionally served as a pilot for additional minor revenue streams by allowing non-members to attend for a small fee and offering screening permissions and materials to any attendees.

With the success of these options, more Consortium offerings may be opened up similarly. Regular attendance to the Virtual Drive-In and other offerings will continue to be free to members.

MBLGTACC Engagement The Consortium hosted the Advisor Social at the 2024 Midwestern Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference (MBLGTACC) in Marquette, Michigan at Northern Michigan University. Yellow Region Representatives, Angie Freeman and Grace Wojcik served as hosts for the Advisor Social. Dr. Jeff Maliskey, Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator along with Jesse Beal, Community & Advocacy Director also attended the Social. Jeff Maliskey alongside former Yellow Region Representative Zach Parker worked collaboratively with the MBLGTACC planning team to curate Advisor Programming at the conference.

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Monthly Affinity Calls Coordinated by the MEC, Consortium members host monthly affinity calls, providing space for practitioners to be in community with each other across institutions and regions. Over the past year, MEC has continued hosting the QTBIPOC and Seasoned Professionals call while expanding and redefining the Graduate Student call. Now, the Graduate Student call is also designed to serve new professionals (anyone who has been in QT work for less than five years). MEC also launched a new affinity space – Sick and Disabled Queers – for any Consortium member who is “disabled, chronically ill, Mad, neurodivergent, D/deaf or otherwise navigating ableist institutions and spaces.” Each call is hosted by two co-facilitators, totaling eight facilitators across all calls. The facilitators range from folks new to the field to seasoned professionals and hail from regions across the United States. Monthly affinity calls have been a meaningful space for connection and relationship building and another avenue for members to relay feedback to the Consortium board. Forthcoming projects include strategic engagement with seasoned professionals and intentional collaborations with professional organizations.

Election Support Knowing that the 2024 Presidential Election would be a difficult time for all of us, regardless of the results, the MEC decided to host a series of discussion and support spaces each weekend in November, starting the weekend before the election. In response to some of the insights gleaned from the Consortium Member Needs Report, we decided to try a new method of virtual connection and hosted these spaces on Gather, an online virtual meeting platform that facilitates more meaningful conversations and experiences by including a virtual world environment that can be navigated through to recreate some of the sense of presence that comes with physical meetings.

While several members expressed interest through registering for one or more of the meetings, this did not translate into attendance. When sent a short survey, those who registered, but did not participate primarily stated that the weekend was not a good time for events such as this, as it is much more likely that it will be forgotten about, overridden with personal responsibilities, or will not become priority over the much-needed rest the weekend offers many of us. We are appreciative of the feedback and will continue to experiment with various ways of hosting virtual events and meetings with a better understanding of what works for members.

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2024 Consortium Award Winners Each year the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals has the opportunity to recognize excellence in the field of LGBTQ student services with these awards. The nominations, generated by the membership of the Consortium, lift up the amazing work of our peers and honor the individuals who create change on college campuses each day. This year, the Consortium Awards committee awarded one nominee for the Promising New Professional Award, two nominees for the Distinguished Achievements in the Field Award, and one nominee for the Dr. Sheltreese D. McCoy Award for Outstanding Social Justice Practice.

Promising New Professional: Angie Freeman Pronouns in Use: They/Them Program Manager, Spectrum Center, University of Michigan Ann Arbor With over a decade of experience in various roles such as LGBTQ+ programming, diversity and inclusion, facilitation, residential life, mentoring, coaching, retention, training, and advising, Angie Freeman (they/them/theirs) continues to pave a path led by self-work and action.

Currently serving as the Program Manager for Events and Partnerships in the Spectrum Center at the University of Michigan, Angie centers queer and trans joy, liberation, and community for all LGBTQIA2S+ students on campus.

Angie’s nomination highlighted several of the events they have been responsible for putting on in their first full year with the Spectrum Center, including an LGBT History Month opening event that brought an entire drag ball to campus, offering students a chance to learn about ball culture from Detroit performers and participate in it themselves. Additionally, Angie is an important member of the Consortium, serving as both a Yellow Region Representative and a co-moderator for the QTBIPOC affinity calls.

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Distinguished Achievement in the Field: Moisés Villada Pronouns in Use: He/Him/Él Associate Director, Gender and Sexuality Center, University of Illinois at Chicago Moisés Villada (He/Him/Él) is a Queer, Latino, first-generation college student, from an immigrant working class family, cancer survivor, born & raised in Chicago. Moisés is the associate director at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC). In his 17+ year tenure at UIC, Moisés has mentored and advocated for hundreds of LGBTQIA+ students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members; has facilitated many professional development workshops & trainings; coordinated and curated educational programming and art exhibitions; served on various campus committees; and provided administrative support to the department.

Moisés’ nomination highlighted the devotion he has shown to University of Illinois at Chicago’s queer students, staff, and faculty over the past 17 years. The nominator noted that much of his work is made invisible, but the impact he has on students when he helps them through periods of housing insecurity, lack of food, family abandonment, and health struggles is not. Moisés is additionally a champion of art and cultural preservation, working to show others how these are central to LGBTQ+ liberation and empowerment.

Distinguished Achievement in the Field: Stephanie Bondi Pronouns in Use: She/They Associate Professor of Practice Educational Administration, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dr. Stephanie Bondi (she/her) has been working in higher education for over 20 years. She teaches courses in student affairs preparation focusing on validating learners from diverse backgrounds and helping students see their roles in making positive social change in educational environments.

Stephanie’s nomination highlighted her deep commitment to the future of our field through both her own scholarly work and the classes she teaches as part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Student Affairs Masters’ Degree Program. She is someone who brings people together, from forming coalitions with social justice educators at UNL to planning dinners at ACPA. Stephanie is dedicated to promoting education, justice, and collective success.

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Dr. Sheltreese D. McCoy Award for Outstanding Social Justice Practice: Pat Tetreault Pronouns in Use: She/Her/Hers Director, Gender and Sexuality Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Pat Tetreault (she/her) is in her 32nd year in Student Affairs, and advocating for LGBTQA+ inclusion using a social justice education model. Pat is a published author; public speaker; social justice educator, advocate, and consultant; and has presented at regional, national, and international conferences.

Her work has been recognized on campus, locally, and nationally.

Pat’s nomination highlighted her long-time commitment to the field and diversity of her work. She has worked and made change in realms of law, sexual health, education, language, and literature, all in service of advancing LGBTQ+ equity and liberation. She strives to provide the education and resources others need to understand the barriers LGBTQ+ people face but does not hesitate to move into advocacy and activism when needed. Pat is a foundational part of the Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, working with students to open it in 2006 and having a direct hand in its growth in space, staffing, and resources made available to LGBTQ+ students at the institution, including scholarships and support funding. She is a pillar of not one, but many communities, owing to her expansive skill set and drive to provide support to anyone looking to better serve LGBTQ+ students.

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Financial Report The Consortium continues to have a solid foundation with our financial accounts, and we have started to explore what it means to reconsider the balance between our income and our expenses in the future. Budget discussions have led to many slashed costs while maintaining strong benefits and value for our membership.

Similar to previous years, the primary expenses of our organization include web/tech expenses, honorariums for speakers, stipends for Board and Region Rep positions, and our presence at ACPA. This year, we also coordinated an in-person board retreat at the University of Michigan, and we began providing stipends to affinity call leaders. Our primary sources of income continue to be membership fees and MemberClicks revenue from the Consortium’s job board and webinar engagement.

In an effort to be proactive about future budgetary challenges due to rising costs, the Consortium Board has begun assessing the value of the platforms and services we use. Our hope is to find the most cost-effective solutions with the most usable interfaces for our membership. Currently, we utilize platforms including MemberClicks for membership and job board management, Google Suite for email and file management, and Zoom for webinars and meetings. Exploring different platforms and services will help us consider cost savings in the future while increasing membership access and engagement.

We continue working with Revolutions Bookkeepers out of Austin, TX. They have been instrumental in managing the organization’s finances and taxes, and we have continued to rely on them for streamlined services to maintain our status as a 501c3 organization. With this upcoming year, we will keep depending on Revolutions’ support, utilize the various benefits offered by our other platforms and services, and work to ensure our membership receives the assistance and support they deserve. The recent appointment of our inaugural Fundraising Coordinator will be a great opportunity for us to explore new funding opportunities in the future in order to help keep our organization growing and thriving.

Lo Denmon, Taxes and Finances Coordinator

Regional Report The Consortium consists of eight different regions that span the United States and some parts of Canada.

Each region has representatives who work to ensure that institutions in their respective states have access to continuing professional development, education, advocacy, and support resources.

A group of new region reps joined in July 2024: Dr. Erica J. Friedman - Orange Region Grace Wojcik - Yellow Region Gonegamown Carlson - Yellow Region Glenn Means - Green Region Angel Collie - Green Region V Rosales - Pink Region Nic Francisco-Kaho’onei - Pink Region

17 Additionally, we want to celebrate the region reps whose terms ended in June 2024. I want to celebrate Zach Parker and Chad Freeman who have both completed two terms as the region representatives for the Yellow Region in 2024. They have both been very active with the Consortium and providing support to the Yellow Region.

Looking at the past year, the Region Representatives have been active among the various Consortium programs and hosting their own events within their regions. Each regional representative served on one of three committees within the Consortium. These committees were responsible for the programs put on by the Consortium. These included Webinars, Affinity Calls, and the Virtual Drive-In. This year, the Consortium was a sponsor for MBLGTACC. Additionally, several regions held coffee hours and virtual get-togethers, with the Pink Region hosting in-person events.

2024 Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Asexual College Conference Advisor Social hosted by the Yellow Region Representatives, Angie Freeman (University of Michigan) and Grace Wojcik (Michigan State University).

As my term as Region Representative Coordinator with the Executive Board comes to an end in June, I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible opportunity to serve in this role. It has been an honor to work alongside such a dedicated and inspiring group of individuals. Together, we have accomplished so much, and I am deeply thankful for the collaboration, encouragement, and trust that have defined my time in this position. While I may be joining a new board, I won’t be far away. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this meaningful work; it has been an experience I will always treasure.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your regional representative or myself. I look forward to working with our outstanding group of regional representatives and focusing on creating lasting and sustaining connections in the Consortium Regions!

Andrew S. Herridge, Ph.D., Regions Coordinator

18 Regional Representatives Red Region: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont ●​ Xiomara Giordano, Bennington College Orange Region: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington DC ●​ Lyosha Gorshkov, Colgate University ●​ Robby Fahrenholtz, Adelphi University ●​ Erica J. Friedman, Ph.D., Rutgers University Yellow Region: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario, South Dakota, Wisconsin ●​ Angie Freeman, University of Michigan ●​ Grace Wojcik, Michigan State University ●​ Gonegamown Carlson, University of North Dakota Green Region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia ●​ Glenn Means, University of Kentucky ●​ Angel Collie, Duke University Blue Region: Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas ●​ Vacant Purple Region: California, Hawaii, Nevada ●​ Robert Powers, College Torch ●​ Rachel Freeman-Cohen, San Diego State University Pink Region: Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Denver, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming ●​ V Rosales, Portland Community College ●​ Nic Francisco - Kaho’onei, Portland State University

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Looking Forward During the upcoming year, the Consortium Collectives plan to forward the following quarterly goals: ●​ MEC ○​ ○​ ○​ ○​ ○​ ○​ ●​ CAC ○​ ○​ ○​ ○​

Onboard new Regional Representative Coordinator Conduct elections for new Regional Representatives in the Spring Onboard new Regional Representatives Affinity Calls Host the Annual Drive-In and Business Meeting in early May Onboard new Community Education Coordinator and implement community education programming such as Center Awareness Day Onboard our new Historian Host our Pre-convention engagement at ACPA Coordinate the QTBIPOC Working Group Develop a tracking system and resource sharing on our webpage for gender and sexuality resource centers that have and are being impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-DEI legislation

●​ OOC ○​ Create and disseminate MemberClicks user navigation guides ○​ Support the financial transition for the new Internal Relations Director and increase PNC authorized signers with our bank account ○​ Run elections for new Region Rep positions in the winter ○​ Onboard new Board members in the summer of 2025 Additionally, the Directors plan to: ●​ Determine the future directions for our needs assessment data and move forward on goals to support our membership ●​ Onboard our new Internal Relations Director and incoming Board leadership ●​ Examine the financial status of the organization and explore alternatives for funding, membership support, and fundraising ●​ Strengthen our partnership with ACPA, including hosting our Pre-Convention Workshop and practitioner brunch at the annual convention.