ABOVE: Photo via Clemson University’s Facebook page.
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) | Clemson University will open its first “living-learning community” for LGBTQ students next fall.
The Greenville News reports Lavender Place will open in fall 2021 in a group of rooms in Gressette Hall, meant to host up to 20 LGBTQ students of up to any age.
Tyler McDonald, a junior English major who is LGBTQ, has been pushing the effort and said it was approved in October. He said it’s important for such students to have a safe space to explore their identities.
“We are a marginalized group, that remains a taboo in a lot of places and housing is a place where that remains,“ McDonald said. “LGBTQ students find themselves in some rough spots when it comes to housing, not just at Clemson but at any university, because there are issues of if you are queer and you live with someone who’s not queer, maybe it’s homophobia or transphobia.”
McDougald said “lavender” was chosen as the community’s name because is a color often associated with members of the LGBTQ community.
Lavender Place will be the 18th living-learning community at Clemson. Others include those for students of color, those in miltary training and business majors.
McDougald said he will begin recruiting residents soon. While he won’t live there, he is heading the community’s planning committee. Students apply to live in Lavender Place when they sign up for on-campus housing.
University spokesperson Joe Galbraith said details are being finalized.
“We’ve made – and continue to make – great strides in our support of the LGBTQ community as we have with support for each and every one of our students,” Galbraith said.
