Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — University of Utah student Ien Zielinski's response on learning last June that the LGBT Resource Center would be closed was strong and immediate.
"I remember I took a deep breath, screamed in my car and texted my adviser," Zielinski said.
Zielinski had anticipated the closure, precipitated by passage last January of HB261, and after the deep breath and scream, reached out to the faculty adviser and pulled out the plans, already drawn up, to create a new LGBTQ "safe space" at the U. The Student Pride Center, as it is known, formally opened on Aug. 19, and on Thursday, Zielinski and other boosters gathered for a formal grand opening ceremony and to launch fundraising efforts.
"We will not be silenced, we will not be ignored, and we will stand together as we are today," said Zielinski, executive director of the new organization. The purpose of the organization, Zielinski went on, is to empower LGBTQ students and create "a safe space where everyone can express their authentic selves."
It's located in room 2130-N at Marriott Library on the U.'s Salt Lake City campus.
Passage of HB261, mandating dismantling of diversity initiatives at Utah's public universities, also led to the closure of the varied culture centers at the U. — the Black Cultural Center, the Women's Resource Center, the LBGT Resource Center and more — prompting dismay among their backers. Creation of the Student Pride Center, not officially affiliated with the university or funded by it, is the response of the LGBTQ community to the turn of events.
U. officials, meantime, leave open the possibility of bringing back the Black Cultural Center and LGBT Resource Center, though in reorganized form. "The University of Utah plans to request approval for additional cultural centers once the approval protocols are established by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education," reads a message on the now-disabled websites of the Women's Resource Center, Black Cultural Center and LGBT Resource Center.
U. officials didn't immediately respond to additional queries about the plans on Thursday.
HB261 was chiefly aimed at dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Utah's public universities. Such programming has typically been aimed at assisting minority students and others from traditionally marginalized backgrounds in navigating college. But in pursuing HB261, critics said such initiatives should be available to all students in need, regardless of race, ethnicity or other personal identifiers.
Parallel to dismantling diversity programming, the U. and Weber State University in Ogden got rid of the cultural centers they operated that were meant to serve specific segments of their communities.
'A tragic blow'
Closure of the LBGT Center at the U., Zielinski said, hit the LGBTQ community hard.
"It's just been a tragic blow to everybody within the LGBTQ+ community and outside of it," Zielinski said, also noting the closures of the cultural centers for women and Black students. "A lot of communities were hit pretty hard by this. It was a huge sense of loss of that support system, of that community center, but also of that feeling of acceptance by the university."
Similarly, the closure of the varied cultural centers has upset a large contingent of employees at the U. They voice their concerns in an open letter dated July 29, signed by several hundred faculty and staffers.
"These abrupt closures tarnish the reputation of the U. as an outstanding research university, a trusted community partner and a great place to work," the letter reads. "Both locally and nationally, the sense of the university as an unwelcoming place will have a devastating ripple effect on recruiting and retention, community involvement in research and federally funded training initiatives across campus."
The new Student Pride Center, though led by U. students, is an initiative of the Utah Pride Center, the nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy group that organizes the annual Utah Pride Festival. As such, it can't engage a faculty adviser to help with operations, but the organization also falls outside the restrictions of HB261.
Per HB261, said Zoe Brown, the Student Pride Center executive assistant, student organizations affiliated with the university must "promote viewpoint neutrality." They can't provide support services like tutoring and academic advising and are also restricted in the sort of viewpoints they may espouse, at least as an organization.
"We cannot state that a person, by virtue of their personal identity characteristics, is inherently privileged or a victim of racism, sexism or oppression. We cannot state that meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist," Brown said. Such restrictions, she went on, represent "a direct violation of our First Amendment right to free speech."
With the elimination of the LGBT Resource Center and the other cultural organizations, the U. created the Center for Community and Cultural Engagement, which has a more all-encompassing reach. "We support student well-being and success by providing pathways to vibrant community and culture through education and celebration of unique heritage, experiences and practices," reads its mission statement.
