Editor’s note: Because Delfin Bautista does not identify with one specific gender, the non-gendered “they” is used as a pro noun.
The end of the 2012-13 school year welcomed new leadership to the LGBT and Women’s cen ters, and with new people come new ideas.
Sarah Tucker Jenkins and Delfin Bautista both joined Ohio University’s staff recently —Bautista as the director of the LGBT Center in late spring and Jenkins as program coordinator for both the LGBT and Women’s centers in early summer.
Bautista recently returned from Rio de Janeiro, where they attended World Youth Day to represent LGBT interests in the religious community. The inter national trip inspired Bautista to place a focus on internation al students.
“We learned very quickly that the rainbow flag does not translate internationally,” Bautista said. “We’re thinking about what would resonate with these students… how we can shift things a little bit to be welcoming of non-American students.”
Bautista also expressed an interest in making the center more approachable for stu dents of color, as well as for faculty and staff. In addition, they said there’s a move to host more panels and discus sions about LGBTA persons and spirituality.
Jenkins shares many of these views and goals, and she added that she intends to familiarize herself with and reach out to lo cal faith organizations such as United Campus Ministries for programming.
She has also set goals for events at the Women’s Center such as a consent workshop.
“Consent is important for all relationships, and something we really don’t talk about,” she said.
She added that understand ing of consent is part of a bigger picture.
“I’m very interested in ad dressing safety,” she said. “It’s especially important to keep people safe (in college)... peo ple are often looking for a safe place.”
Another way to address the safety issue, she said, is by cre ating more LGBTA-education safe zones.
“We’re continuing to build on the foundation that every one who has come through the center has built,” Bautista said of the coming year. “There are a lot of good things moving for ward.”
