Located on the third floor of the Illini Union, the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resources receives few visitors in person. Increasing visibility on campus is one of new Assistant Dean and Director of the Office of LGBT Resources Leslie K. Morrow’s main tasks. Coordinator of LGBT services at Miami University in Ohio, Morrow was selected to replace Curt McKay, who retired at the end of the spring semester, at the University this July.

“I was impressed with Illinois because of the support it provides for students,” Morrow said. “There are many changes on the horizon and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Morrow received a bachelor’s in political science and a master’s in college student personnel from Miami University. At Miami University, Morrow has worked on several task forces including a women’s advisory group, a domestic partner benefits task force and an LGBT advisory board. She served as co-adviser to Spectrum, the LGBT student group, has been involved with Equality Cincinnati, was a member of the Miami University 1809 LGBT alumni board and was a liaison to the executive board of the National Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals. All these experiences have helped Morrow create a strong relationship between university administration and the LGBT community. At Illinois, Morrow hopes to work closely with the LGBT community and extend relationships between the University and students.

“I hope to bring the knowledge of community groups back to campus. It will be important in preparing students beyond graduation,” Morrow said.

Morrow identifies the complicated intersections of identity and lack of awareness and education on the issue as the most difficult part of being a student and LGBT.

Assistant Director Khristian Kemp-DeLisser hopes that the office will continue to provide students with practical information before they come to the University.

“Some students come in … not knowing about the available resources and if visibility is low when they arrive to campus, it leaves them in a bind that’s scary,” Kemp-DeLisser said.

Although the office has been successful in integrating its services into University cultural centers and residence halls programs, Kemp-DeLisser hopes the office will continue to work on making its services more visible in the residence halls while increasing its online presence.

With the launch of the Office for Intercultural and Intergroup Relations this fall, the Office of LGBT Resources will have an increased opportunity to work with women, and the African American, Latino/Latina and Asian American cultural programs on campus. Along with programs on Coming Out Day, the office offers regular training sessions and workshops on topics such as homophobia at each cultural center.

“Our office has been regularly working with the LGBT office and I only see that getting stronger with the new assistant dean,” said Assistant Dean and Director of La Casa Cultural Adele Lozano. “Curt McKay did a fantastic job and left the office in a good position to grow in the future.”

While the cultural centers and the LBGT office work on nailing down final plans for the fall semester, Kemp-DeLisser hopes that students will get to know the new director and make use of the services offered by the office as well as the media center, books and study break area on the third floor of the union.

“The best way for students to find out about our resources (is) to come visit us” Kemp-DeLisser said. “The space is here so that the students can really define it as they want.”