The University will sponsor its first all-freshman Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) peer group this week in hopes of building a stronger freshman LGBT community.
Debbie Bazarsky, the LGBT student services coordinator, will lead this weekly group "to help first-year students meet each other, get adjusted, and make their transition into Princeton a little easier," she said.
The freshmen will gather for lunch each week and discuss a wide range of topics, including coming-out stories, healthy dating and the academic pressures of campus.
"There are events sponsored by the Pride Alliance, but there isn't necessarily a more anonymous, closed group, where students feel they have a safe space to begin the process of coming out," said James Ashenhurst '08, one of 12 freshmen who have expressed interest in the group.
Bazarsky is not advertising the meeting's location, date or time to protect students' confidentiality.
She hopes the group will foster unity for new students and prevent openly gay students from becoming closeted, a phenomenon she said happens here a few times each year. The number of openly gay students who become closeted after coming to Princeton is noticeably greater than at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where Bazarsky previously served as LGBT director, she said.
But Bazarsky said she has noticed "positive changes" in the LGBT climate on campus over the past four years.
"We're seeing less students retreating back into the closet and more students coming to Princeton who are out of the closet," she said.
Ashenhurst said that though Princeton is liberal, in some ways it is more traditional than other universities. In particular, he said Princeton's "dating and Street culture certainly make it harder to pursue a comfortable, open gay life."
This fall, Frist Campus Center will house the LBGT student center on the second floor for the first time. The center, which was proposed to President Tilghman during the fall of 2003, will be similar to the international students' centers.
It will continue to provide programming support for LBGT activities, as well as "a safe space for LGBT [students] to come and hang out," she said.
Ashenhurst said that the University is moving in the right direction with LGBT issues.
"It's very positive to see the growth of the program and the diversity of events," he said.
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