As members of the Carolina Community, we have all pledged our allegiance to the Carolinian Creed and to the values it espouses. Having joined this community, we have committed ourselves to being more than excellent students. We have committed ourselves to being excellent citizens who “will discourage bigotry, while striving to learn from differences in people, ideas and opinions.” We have committed ourselves to demonstrating “concern for others, their feelings and their need for conditions which support their work and development.”
While we look forward to the day when campaigns like this are no longer necessary, the statistics tell us that there is quite a bit left to be done before such a day comes. When a third of those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender think about dropping out of college each year because they feel unaccepted by their peers and others, campaigns like this are still needed. When students at USC continue to use derogatory terms to refer to members of the LGBT community, campaigns like this are still needed. They’re still needed because they remind all of us of our responsibility to those who are most vulnerable among us — those who each day are forced to live in a society that refuses to fully accept them for who they are.
Not only does the “Stop the H8” campaign bring awareness to issues facing LGBT students, it provides all of us an opportunity to effect change in our community by becoming a Safe Zone Ally, an individual who has both the training and resources to assist LGBT students who may be struggling with issues of identity and acceptance. We encourage you to take advantage of this training and become an Ally.
But even if you don’t choose to become an Ally, we encourage you to still be a friend.