The University of New Brunswick is providing LGBTQ students with a safe place to call their own on campus with the introduction of a new Gender and Sexual Diversity Centre.
The 203 is located in the Student Union Building and will see programs and initiatives designed to support students who identify as queer as well as increase the overall awareness on campus.
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“It’s a social space for queer students to come access resources, to come and meet different student groups,” said Nadine Violette, the coordinator for the centre.
“It definitely feels good, it feels long overdue,” she said.
UNB Student Services, the Student Union, the Office of the Vice-President Academic, along with private donors have partnered to make the centre a reality.
Director of Counselling Services for UNB, Rice Fuller, said ensuring students have a dedicated space where they can feel safe and supported is vital to helping a student population that’s long needed such services.
“We see a disproportionate number of students who identify as LGBTQ+, somewhere on that spectrum, at counselling services,” he explained. “In having this centre we hope to … make the struggles that our students that identify as queer easier to manage.”
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Beyond supporting the students who need it Fuller said research has shown that creating safe, welcoming spaces such as The 203 do more than just improve the student experience for LGBTQ students as the positive effects are spread to the entire student body.
“We know that having a centre like this on a campus actually helps the physical and mental health of students who don’t identify as LGBTQ,” Fuller explained. “So in having a centre we’re helping both queer students and non-queer students.
“I think it’s a huge kind of win-win for us.”