This year students at the University of Connecticut started a Web site to link LGBT student-athlete campus communities and provide resources for LGBT student-athletes. Find out why they created this Web page and how you can create a similar Web page at your school.
By Pat Griffin
The Web site, www.cpia.uconn.edu/class, is now up and running. It Takes A Team! Director Pat Griffin spoke with the Web site creators Alana Linick, Ingrid Hohmann, and Bruce Cohen about the process.
How did the idea for a UConn LGBT athlete resource Web page come about? We (the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes (CPIA)) wanted a resource that could meet the needs of the athletic community as a whole. Some student-athletes may be curious about LGBT issues and looking for educational material. Some allies and potential allies may be interested in ways to support their peers. Others may identify as LGBT student-athletes and be looking for support, while others may be somewhere along the coming out process. We were hoping the anonymity of the Web page would be attractive to everyone regardless of their sexual identity.
What is goal in creating this Web page?The goal was to provide links to other organizations locally, nationally and internationally so that all student-athletes had access to resources when they were on and off campus. We wanted to create a system that was anonymously accessible where students also had the opportunity to submit questions or comment relevant to their lives at UConn.
Who helped to put the Web page together? Staff? Student-athletes?The Web page was a huge group effort. We have nine counselors on our staff, a learning specialist, four graduate students and an administrative assistant. Everyone was given the Web address while the site was in the testing phase. We also brought the site to a SAAC meeting in an effort to get feedback from student-athlete leaders. In terms of the actual layout of the page, a couple of staff members teamed up with the help of our computer technicians to put it all together.
How are student-athletes and coaches made aware of the Web page and how to access it?After announcing the page to SAAC we sent out a couple of mass e-mails through student-athlete distribution lists announcing the site. It has also been linked to our department homepage with an icon indicating it is a new addition, and we have hung fliers throughout our department.
Do you have any information about how much the Web site is used?Right now we have the site hooked up to Google Analytics, which tells us how many hits the site has as well as how many of those hits are unique. The number of hits overall has increased steadily with between one and five unique hits every day. We have also found out that students are utilizing the site and the resources available for research for class projects, so hopefully the number of hits increases again.
Having a university-based LGBT athlete resource page is fairly unique. How has the UConn athletic department reacted to/supported the creation of this Web site?Our athletic department and liaisons have all been supportive throughout the development process. We have been communicative with athletics from the beginning of the site's development and announced its completion at a recent interdepartmental meeting.
Is there a link to this Web site from the athletic department Web site? We do not have a link directly to CLASS from Athletics. However, we do not have a link directly to any of the support services CPIA offers (tutoring, life skills, etc.). The first link on uconnhuskies.com is for Academic Counseling. This link takes you directly to our homepage, and all of the resources are listed in a toolbar from there.
Do you know of any other universities that have a similar Web resource?Right now we know of UPenn that has a support group (however nothing online yet) called PATH (Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia and Heterosexism) and the Gay Straight Athlete Alliance through UMass, which have both been great resources to us along the way.
Have you had any feedback about the Web page from student-athletes? Athletic staff? Other schools?Honestly the feedback at this stage has been limited, but any feedback that has been received was supportive. We have also spoken with several colleagues from other schools interested in starting their own online support system.
What advice do you have for other schools that want to create a similar Web page?In terms of the potential success or failure of the Web page we found it helpful in talking with students prior to the development of the site. We wanted to get a conversational assessment of the campus climate and attitudes of students. While the creation of the Web site can potentially foster education about LGBT issues in sport, if your campus is not generally supportive, it is possible your site will be set up for failure. After speaking with the athletic community here, we felt the Web site would be utilized in a positive way and went ahead with the site development.
In terms of the actual creation of the site:
Find a computer technician! We could have never made this functional without the help of our computer guys. We used a pretty basic Web page generator to create and activate all the links and photos. UConn had a template available for download as well so that we were compliant with the university Web design policies. We talked to several people to make sure our links were accurate and we were not missing much. People at N4A and NACADA were great, with their feedback and working with Pat Griffin was incredibly helpful as well. Make sure you are in compliance with your university logos and layouts *before* you start working. With everyone working with students at the same time for regular everyday job issues, the project took about four to five months before it was functional. It had been in the planning stages for approximately one year.