LGBT Center records

The University of Louisville was a trailblazer on LGBT issues long before the LGBT Center officially opened. As far back as the 1970's, LGBT student groups and faculty/staff allies have worked to make the campus more welcoming and inclusive. In December 2007, the LGBT Center opened with the support of Dr. Mordean Taylor-Archer, one part-time employee, and a small office in a converted closet. Since then, the center and the LGBT community at U of L have grown. Along with additional staff to help forward the work of the Center, U of L has worked to create a climate of inclusion in the following ways: it established the country’s first endowed chair in LGBT studies, created an LGBT studies minor, added gender identity and expression to the campus nondiscrimination policy, opened the South’s first themed housing community for students interested in LGBT issues and social justice, offered the South’s first LGBT-themed study abroad experience, and increased accommodations for transgender students. In 2013, the LGBT Center opened a satellite office on the Health Sciences Campus and began a multi-year effort to infuse the curriculum for first and second year medical students with new LGBT competencies established by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). U of L was the first school in the nation to launch an effort like this one and has been recognized across the country as a leader in LGBT health education. To date, U of L has been recognized as one of the most LGBT-welcoming the country by Campus Pride, and the highest ranked public university in the South. [Source: http://louisville.edu/lgbt/meet-the-staff-1/history-of-the-lgbt-center]