Delta College Pride Center among bright spots pointed out in survey, but staffing noted as a critical need to be addressed
Editor’s Note: A source in this story is presented without name in order to allow for honest conversations about a sensitive subject involving vulnerable populations.
The Delta College Campus Climate survey published in July covered a variety of topics regarding the Delta community and its demographics.
Amongst the demographics surveyed were LGBTQ+ students and staff. Findings of the survey addressed LGBTQ+ student and staff feelings of safety and security on campus, especially how they correlate with the Delta College Pride Center.
“When it came to supporting their basic needs, multiple students in the LGBTQ+ focus groups specifically referenced the benefits of Delta Pride Center, revealing that they felt protected in this safe space. Students also shared that their basic needs resources were more comprehensively explained and more available to them via the Pride Center,” noted the survey.
The Pride Center provides a welcoming space for students to meet friends, hang out and access needed resources. To new students, it is often a place that makes their college experience a more positive one.
“Before when I was first coming to Delta, I had first moved here to the Valley, and I’ve heard Stockton’s very conservative. So, every single day I came on campus, I was extremely scared because, after COVID, that was like the first time being out as who I was. And when I found the Pride Center, it made me a lot more comfortable and safer to come to campus,” said a Delta student who wished to remain anonymous for privacy and safety.
To some, the Pride Center is what allows them to complete their time at Delta and go on to further their education.
“I’ve had like a student recently say that if it weren’t because of the Pride Center, and having somebody here, you know, it doesn’t have to be myself just having a staff member here to connect them with different resources on campus, that they wouldn’t have finished Delta, that they wouldn’t have been able to transfer to a four-year college. So, I think having, like, again the space but also a staff member just to be here to back up students and support them, I think does have an impact on them being successful here and then successful elsewhere,” said Pride Center student program specialist Jasmin Arroyo.
Having a staffed Pride Center can be crucial to some LGBTQ+ student’s educational experiences, the Pride Center staff. Hiring a full-time, permanent person for the Pride Center was included at the end of the campus climate survey in the LGBTQ+ Students’ and Employees’ Advice section.
Previously, the Pride Center was staffed with two part-time employees, including Arroyo. Currently, it is just Arroyo, who is capped at 25 hours a week, and student staff members.
“I’ve always said whether it’s me, whether it’s somebody else, students deserve to have somebody here all of the time. Queerness doesn’t just happen when Jasmin is here. Students need help and resources and somebody to talk to all of the time that the Pride Center is open,” said Arroyo.
That need has been noted beyond the survey.
“So our group has asked to prioritize that the Pride Center be fully funded. And I’ve been told that there will be a full-time person hired in the next few months and that there will be better counseling available. And they’re also talking about doing a student learning community, which is something I know me and Ricky, we’ve always wanted that because the students are so tight,” said Professor of Photography and co-president of the Delta College Pride Coalition (DCPC) Kirstyn Russell, referencing Dr. Ricky Gutierrez-Maldonado, former program manager at the Pride Center and current AB620 liaison.
A way to better address LGBTQ+ safety and visibility on campus would be to provide campus-wide trainings, especially to staff, according to Russell.
One thing these trainings would do would ensure that a potential Delta student’s first contact with the school is a positive one.
These trainings would provide not just a better understanding of how to support the LGBTQ+ community but also a better understanding of the intersectionality of individuals and LGBTQ+ identity. “Increase visibility of intersectional LGBTQ+ students (racial/ethnic cultural background, disability, etc.),” was another piece of advice mentioned in the campus climate survey.
“Some feedback I got last year from alumni, a trans man alumnus…was that he was deadnamed on the first day and then just didn’t want to go back to class. So if we’re considering enrollment, we’re concerned about people staying in class, like just understanding that being misgendered or deadnamed can be the difference between somebody staying in class and leaving class,” said Russell.
Other advice in the survey pertains to increasing LGBTQ+ visibility on campus and ensuring students know how to obtain resources and/or report when their safety has been threatened.
“I think that is also another internal issue when it comes to the [LGBTQ+] community is that a lot of people are afraid to talk about if something has happened to them because they don’t know if they’ll be understood or if there’s even going to be any type of repercussion,” said an anonymous person cited in the campus climate survey.