Although the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance's "Queer Peers" program has been providing students with resources in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community for two years, many of the students involved are disappointed with its lack of a campus presence.
Through the DRA, the Queer Peers program provides an online list and brief biographies of Dartmouth students, staff and professors who are willing to be contacted by others for advice, support or simply to talk.
Through peer mentoring, Queer Peers intends to reach out to members of the Dartmouth community and answer any questions or concerns they may have about GLBT issues.
"Unfortunately, I have not received any contacts from the webpage," Arthur Kehas '04 said. "Most people don't know about it. I didn't when I came here."
"It probably is underpublicized and there are probably some people who have never been contacted," Pam Misener, Assistant Dean of Student Life and Coordinator for GLBT Programming, said.
"I think it's a great resource and has the potential to be an even greater resource," Misener continued.
Many students, however, believe that the program is already serving its purpose.
" I do think that overall we could put more resources into the programs and advertise, but having just that list of student names on the Internet is very useful. It serves as a first step," John Brett '00 said.
The queer peers emphasized that this program specializes in opening dialogues and addressing the first steps curious students want to know about.
"I hope it helps people who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity and feel alone, feel more comfortable," Cate Macomber '04 said. "I know I would have found this [web]page really helpful."
Prospective students and freshmen are two particular groups that Queer Peers hopes to reach.
"I think it also helps prospective GLBTQA students see that there are resources and out people at Dartmouth," Macomber said. "I've gotten a few blitzes from students just coming to Dartmouth. A couple of people asked about Dartmouth's social scene for queer women."
"Being gay at Dartmouth can seem like a very scary thing," Kehas said. "Queer Peers gives closeted students the chance to make a contact with another gay student in an extremely confidential manner."
Informality has been one of the attractions of the program. Anyone can contact the queer peers to ask questions and expect full confidentiality. "I hope that by being out and willing to answer questions without making assumptions, someone else will have an easier time coming out," Macomber said.
However, it is this informality which is perhaps contributing to the organization's lack of a presence at Dartmouth.
Members of the Queer Peers program are hoping to turn Queer Peers into a much more formal structured mentoring program where students would get various training before beginning the mentoring process.
Brett believed that this development would begin over the next two years. Misener, however, said that "though there has been interest in doing that, nothing has been decided yet."
Misener emphasized that Queer Peers "is really a grassroots effort created by and maintained by the students. LGBT students understand the value of making friends, having contacts and having resources...they just get together and in a grassroots effort collect and organize themselves to provide an outreach."
Though students founded the Queer Peers program, it includes people from every facet of life at Dartmouth. Administrators, faculty, staff and graduate students are all potential queer peers.
"If gay students ask me about my own experiences, I am glad to talk to them and listen to them," Jon Appleton, a professor in the music department, said.
Interest in the programs is especially strong among members of the Class of 2004, who want to further develop the program. Almost a third of the queer peers listed on the website are sophomores.
"I think that is very much a function of the '04 network. Many of them were out when they came here and really strengthened the program," Brett said.
"I got involved with it because I want to help others deal with their sexuality as much as I can. I want them to experience the happiness, relief and positiveness of exploring your sexuality," Kehas echoed.
