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History of the Center

What is now the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania began its life in a carrel within the Student Activities office in fall 1982. Actually, it was first discussed in the preceding school year following a few very disturbing homophobic incidents on campus. The worst of these was the beating of a gay sophomore at the hands of a fellow student, for no apparent reason other than that the victim conformed to certain stereotypes of gay men. As a result of student leader concerns and a few administrators who championed student causes, Bob Schoenberg was hired to work three days a week in both Student Activities and the Counseling Service as a point person for lesbian and gay concerns (there was no mention of bisexual or transgender people at that time).

About three years after the work began, Bob and his supervisor engaged an organization development consultant, who was directing (and still directs) an LGBT program that began at about the same time as Penn's. As a result, the consultant was able to achieve some clarity about the direction of the program. One matter became clear: a programmatic identity for the work needed to be established. This was achieved by choosing a cumbersome but precise name for the program (which has, long since, been abandoned). And, cumbersome though it may have been, the work having a name was a significant step.

Over the next few years, as he completed work on his dissertation, Bob's time expanded from three days a week to five, from nine months to twelve. Simultaneously, he stressed the need for more help. The LGBT program had a work-study student or two from the outset. He argued for a second half-time staff person, not only to assist with the volume of work, but also to make available to students a female counterpart, which would encourage greater participation of women in activities. The request was granted and, in the subsequent years, that position evolved from one part-time staff position to two half-time staff positions, then to one temporary full-time position, to a permanent second full-time position, and, in September 2002, a third.

Some salutary developments were entirely fortuitous. A restructuring of the Student Activities office resulted in the program moving to new space at 3537 Locust Walk, a move Bob resisted, as it meant leaving the student union building. As it turns out, the two small rooms assigned to the Center were four times larger than what it had before and, within a year, the third and final room on the floor was assigned to the Center.

Another reorganization resulted, again fortuitously, in Bob's reporting line being shifted directly to the chief student affairs officer (Vice Provost for University Life). By this time, Bob was employed full-time and had reasonable staff support. Because of his new reporting line, he was now expected - and was in a better position for it - to undertake some of the tasks typical of more mature non-profit organizations. These included annual planning, annual reports, budget proposal and management. All required a definitive mission statement and organizational goals and measurable objectives - a far cry from the planning by intuition of several years before.

In October 2000, Penn President Judith Rodin announced a major gift from David Goodhand, C’85 and Vincent Griski, W’85. At the same time, the University committed a campus building to become the LGBT Center’s home. With the lead gift and donations from many alumni and friends, the exterior of the historic (1870s) Carriage House at 3907 Spruce Street was restored and the interior gutted and redesigned to provide wonderful space for the Center and its affiliated student organizations.

Still, the Center cannot be all things to all people. Though it probably comes as close to any center in the country to being "full-service," there are services we would like to provide and programs we would like to sponsor that time and resources do not allow. The Center must continuously assess what and how it is doing and make decisions based on that assessment.

Perhaps its development will provide hope to a campus that is just beginning its quest for an LGBT center. But it is also true that there is more that should be done, which careful deliberation, judicious planning, and hard work by staff and volunteers could make possible.