091018

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Volume 136, Issue 7

@utkdailybeacon

utdailybeacon.com

CAMPUS NEWS: The only thing you should be thirsty for in Neyland is a win. City Editor Cat Trieu and Asst. News Editor Neeley Moore report on SGA’s newest iniative-come-true and the way they’re keeping you hydrated in Neyland this season. See page 2

OPINIONS: Kelly Alley discusses automobile diasters and what she thinks fixes them in her most recent installment of Wondering Wanderer.

See page 4

Monday, September 10, 2018

CITY NEWS:

SPORTS:

Local alt-country and Americana band Handsome and the Humbles has had the dream of starting their own band since middle school. Staff writer Luna Brewer profiles the band and its second album’s release. See page 5

UT left 59 points on the field Saturday against ETSU. Sports Editor Blake Von Hagen breaks down just how well the Vols did and grades their performance.

See page 8

UT ranked as third most LGBTQ-unfriendly college campus Cat Trieu

Campus News Editor

In its 2019 version of “The Best 384 Colleges,” Princeton Review ranked the University of Tennessee as the third most LGBTQ-unfriendly college campus. The book was released on Aug. 8 and contained several lists of colleges ranked according to demographics, extracurriculars and quality of life. Senior in political science and SGA president Ovi Kabir attributed UT’s ranking as LGBTQ-unfriendly to past vandalism of the Pride Center and to the defunding of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Autumn Ragland, junior in architecture and member of the SGA diversity and inclusion committee, expressed her lack of surprise, believing that Greek life culture at UT had a large impact on the ranking. “I think another part of (the ranking) might be how strong the frat culture is at UT,” Ragland said. “I know that within fraternities, there’s presentations like hyper masculinity, which I think are inherently having negative effects on the LGBT community, especially for gay men or queer people who present as men.” Christopher “Cole” Tipton, junior in sociology and women, gender, and sexuality studies, expressed their lack of surprise as well. “Looking over information from campus climate surveys and talking to queer students on campus like myself provides the evidence that queer students are not comfortable or even safe on campus or within the community,” Tipton said. “I think a missed idea in just looking at the ranking is concept of the campus community.”

Bonnie Johnson, coordinator of the Pride Center, said that the ranking demonstrated the need for support of the LGBTQ community on campus. “To me, (the ranking) demonstrates that the marginalized communities cannot be advocating alone and screaming into the void about the issues, so to speak, and that every person and a large majority on our campus really need to be practicing ‘allyship’ daily for our campus to be more inclusive,” Johnson said. “Hiring one person — me — isn’t going to change an institutional system or culture, although it is a step in the direction of influencing it.” “I think it is up to everyone to make Rocky Top welcoming to all and hostile to none,” Johnson added. Tipton shared their personal experiences as an LGTBQ community member on and off campus. “My experience with the ‘big ’ incidents, like directly being called slurs, have occurred in the Fort or on the Strip, whereas the ‘small,’ everyday misgenderings and tasteless remarks occur more frequently on campus,” Tipton said. “In separating these negative experiences, I hope to make clear that UTK faculty and students, while still doing damaging things on campus, are allowing for a toxic culture to persist in the wider community. To create a welcome environment on campus, the beliefs and behaviors of Volunteers in other, overlapping spheres of life must be critiqued.” In terms of a solution, Tipton explained that the LGBTQ community, including allies, have several initiatives underway. “Safe Zone is re-debuting. The Pride Center hosts a variety of activities for queer students and allies. The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department brings inclusive lecturers to campus. Women’s Coordinating Council

The Pride Center is located at 1616 Melrose Ave. on the University of Tennessee campus. Quinn Phillips / The Daily Beacon

recently hosted a gender inclusive art show, and Sex Week always brings queer issues to the forefront,” Tipton said. “This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are a variety of things any concerned individual can seek out on campus to better the community and their own understanding.” “However, state legislators often have hostile views towards these programs and queer students as people,” Tipton added. “So Volunteers need to vet their representatives and vote in the midterms. Do not forget that state law restricts the promotion of gender neutral pronouns on campus and defunded our Office of Diversity.” Ragland believes that supporting the students in the LGBTQ community through funding and communication is key. “Once there is dialogue, then we can take action,” Ragland said. Tipton said that while “we can recognize the positive ideals of the Volunteer

community and creed,” UT has failed in the execution of those ideals. “The way to move forward has been clearly laid out over and over,” Tipton said. “All that is left is for students and faculty to take action. Until then, the Volunteer community will fall short of our professed values.” UTK was also ranked by Princeton Review as fifth for little race/class interaction, eleventh least beautiful campus and nineteenth for least happy students. Kabir’s goal is to not be on Princeton Review’s negative lists. Rather, he wants UT to show up on the “friendlier” ones and aims to support communities with higher needs in order to reach that goal. “(Getting off of the negative lists) is a journey,” Kabir said. “I really wish I had the answer for (how to improve campus for LGBTQ community members). What we need to focus on is how to bolster that community. We have to listen to students in those communities and learn how to do that.”


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