Safe Space

The Safe Space workshop is designed to reduce homophobia and heterosexism on our campus and thereby make our campus a safer and freer environment for all members of our community. This spring the DEC is rolling out a new tiered model. These workshops create an educational experience through which students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to explore their personal identities, cultural identities, stereotypes, privilege, and what it means to be an Ally and Accomplice. The program is also designed to understand how these issues impact the UNO and global community. After attending the Tier 1 and Tier 2 Safe Zone workshops participants have the choice to sign the Safe Space Pledge and take a Safe Space placard.

Tier I focuses on learning terminology and gendered pronouns, as well as, to give participants tools to initiate their own further education.

Tier II is designed to understand a broad scope of the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals, the cycle of oppression, and how you can be a more effective ally and accomplice

Tier III continues the dialogue and education about the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals, focusing on the impact that members of the group have had on world history and the history of the community itself with a hyper-focus on intersectionality.

Request a workshop

At this time all in-person workshops will be put on pause.

You may request access to the tier 1 moodle course by emailing diversity@uno.edu

Upcoming workshops and programs

Join the Diversity Engagement Center via Zoom for Safe Space workshop that will focus on Terminology and small steps you can take right now to improve the lived experiences of our LGBTQIA+ community.

Faculty/Staff Safe Space Training: Tier 1 LGBTQIA+ Terminology

Wednesday, February 23, 1:00pm-2:30pm

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/feb22-fs-tier1

Faculty/Staff Safe Space Training: Tier 2 Effective Allyship

Wednesday, March 16, 1:00pm-2:30pm

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/mar22-fs-tier2

Faculty/Staff Safe Space Training: Tier 3 History & Intersectionality

Wednesday, April 6, 1:00pm-2:30pm

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/april22-fs-tier3

Student Safe Space Training: Tier 1 LGBTQIA+ Terminology

Tuesday, March 29, 5:30pm-7:00pm UC 201 A or via zoom

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/march-student-tier1

Student Safe Space Training: Tier 2 Effective Allyship

Monday, April 18, 5;30pm-7:00pm UC 201 A or via Zoom

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/march-student-tier2

Student Safe Space Training: Tier 3 History & Intersectionality

Tuesday, April 26, 5:30pm-7:00pm UC 201 A or via Zoom

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/april-student-tier3

An ally/accomplice is...
- Someone who is committed to providing visible, tangible support for the LGBTQIA+ community
- Someone you can go to for day to day advice, and know that your sexuality or gender identity is not an issue and is not something you have to worry about concealing
- Someone who is committed to providing a confidential (within limits) safe zone for members of the LGBTQIA+ community
- Someone who is available as a reference for anyone with questions about sexuality or gender identity issues. An ally may not always have an answer but should know where to find it.
- Someone who has agreed to continually improve their knowledge about the LGBTQIA+ community and issues via in-service or continuous training sessions and campus programs
- Someone who agrees to combat homophobia and heterosexism on a personal level.
- Someone who believes that our campus is enriched and enlivened by the diversity of LGBTQIA+ students, faculty and staff
- Someone who can comfortably use inclusive language, avoid stereotyping, and be actively aware of heterosexism
- Someone who agrees to support other allies
An ally/accomplice is not...
- (necessarily) A licensed, professional counselor, but an ALLY can offer someone a menu of alternative sources for help
- A spokesperson for the LGBTQIA+ communities at large, but an ALLY is an individual that can speak for themselves from their experience
- An expert on the "coming out" process, but an ALLY is someone who is sensitive to and concerned for individuals during this process. An ALLY can offer someone a selection of others to whom they can speak.

UNO Faculty & Staff Safe Space Allies

Below will find a list of UNO faculty and staff who have completed Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the Safe Space Workshops and have committed to support the LGBTQIA+ community at UNO and Beyond.

*This is not a comprehensive list and will be updated as more workshops are completed.*

First Name	Last Name	Pronouns	Title and Department
Joy	Ballard	She/Her/Hers	Assistant Director, Student Involvement and Leadership
Ryan Anne	Bell	She/Her/Hers	Director, Experiential Learning and Community Engagement
Trajuan	Briggs	He/Him/His	Athletics Eligibility & Academic Specialist, Athletics
Elaine S.	Brooks	She/Her/Hers	Professor and Chair of English and Foreign Languages
Paige	Ciolino	She/Her/Hers	Student Care Coordinator, The HUB
Sonja	Daniels	She/Her/Hers	Student Care Coordinator, The HUB
Kimberly	Esteves	She/Her/Hers	Dual Enrollment Coordinator, Admissions
kalo	kalo gow	She/Her/Hers
Hannah	Knight	She/her/hers
Julie	Landry	She/Her/Hers	Office Manger, Office of Research
Monique Nolan	Legendre	She/Her/Hers	Tutor Coordinator, Student Support Services
Julia A.	Li	She/Her/They	Instructor Sociology/Dept of Anthropology and Sociology
Ann	Lockridge	She/Her/Hers
Randall	Menard
Jeanne	Pavy	She/Her/Hers	Collection Development & Scholarly Communication Libriarian, Earl K. Long Library
Amanda	Robbins	She/Her/Hers	Director, Office of Residential Life
Debra	Salbador	She/Her/Hers	Visiting Assistant Professor
Brian	Seeger	She/her/Hers
Cathy	Simoneaux
Joe T.	Sylve, Ph.D.	He/Him/His	Adjunct Professor, Computer Science
Karaline	Zeigler, LCSW	She/Her/Hers	College Success Coach, College Beyond
Irene	Ziegler	She/Her/Hers	Program Director, UNO-Innsbruck International Summer School
Phoebe	Zito	She/Her/Hers	Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Lora	Amsberryaugier	She/Her/Hers	Associate Dean of Library and Information Services, Earl K. Long Library
Christie	Lacy	Sher/Her/Hers	Coordinator of Graduate & Undergraduate English, Department of English & Foreign Language

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression Resources

Gender Inclusive Housing

Gender Inclusive Housing suites in Pontchartrain Hall are designed to provide a comfortable housing option for students whose needs are not met by traditional housing options. Students must opt into gender inclusive housing in order to participate or be assigned to a gender inclusive suite. Assignments may include a 2 bedroom unit with a shared bath or a 4 bedroom unit with two shared baths. Suite assignment is based on space availability. The university and staff do not condone the use of this housing option for romantic couples. Students are not released from housing agreements due to changes in housing preferences. To "opt in", all interested students should email their interest in Gender Inclusive Housing to ResidentialLife@uno.edu as Residential Life staff will need to assist with the students' assignment process.

For more information about housing and housing options click the link below

https://www.uno.edu/housing/faqs

Location of Gender Inclusive Restrooms

Campus Map Marked with Gender Inclusive Single Stall Restrooms

In 2016, the University of New Orleans created eight gender-neutral restrooms on campus by converting single-stall restrooms in the Education Building (3), Earl K. Long Library (1), and the International Center (4)
Inclusive Language

Please click the link here /media/27751 to view the inclusive language toolkit