LGBTQIA+ faculty and staff have long been a visible part of the BU community.
In September 2021, their profile was raised even higher with the opening of a center dedicated to connecting LGBTQIA+ colleagues through programming, events, and a shared gathering space.
The LGBTQIA+ Center For Faculty & Staff grew out of our Strategic Plan, which empowered a task force to make recommendations for improving the LGBTQIA+ experience, including a professionally staffed center.
Enter Debbie Bazarsky, a nationally respected leader on LGBTQIA+ topics in higher education, who joined BU in 2021 to open the center as its first director.
According to a recent survey, at least one in six staff members at BU identify as LGBTQIA+.
“I became involved with diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and training at the age of 14,” she says. “Since then, I’ve been on a bit of a journey doing broad-based DEI work, but what really makes my soul sing is LGBTQIA+ center work.”
Her goals include improving the recruitment and retention of LGBTQIA+ faculty and staff, as well as turning the center into a go-to space for networking, events, and community building. Bazarsky has also been hard at work increasing the visibility of gender and sexual minorities in University media, and investing in and promoting the scholarship of LGBTQIA+ faculty.
“It’s a new day at BU,” she says. “My hope for the center is that it will be a place that uplifts and celebrates the community, as well as a place where people can find support.”