The second of two candidates for the Syracuse University LGBT Resource Center’s vacant director position said he would bring a “democratic approach to leadership” and create partnerships on campus, if selected for the job.

Samuel Byrd, who’s currently resident director of UNITY Theme Program, a sexual and gender diversity-focused living-learning program at the University of California, Berkeley, spoke to the SU campus community Thursday at an open forum in Bird Library.

About 20 people attended the forum to hear the details of Byrd’s plan to lead the center.

The LGBT Resource Center’s former director, Tiffany Gray, took a job at West Chester University’s LGBTQA Services in fall 2017. Rob Pusch, a former member of the University Senate’s Committee on LGBT Concerns, was appointed interim director of the center shortly after Gray’s departure.

Earlier this week, Khristian Kemp-Delisser, the other candidate for the open spot, presented at an open forum in Crouse-Hinds Hall.

Byrd, during the Thursday forum, said he feels it’s important to approach the director position with the goal of creating partnerships. He said that with partnerships, the center can work collectively with and hear ideas from students, staff and other cultural and resource centers on campus.

“Creativity is never an individual process,” Byrd said, adding that he believed in surrounding himself with the “best people.”

To develop LGBTQ student support services at SU, Byrd said he plans to focus on five priorities: getting people to recognize their own biases and positions on campus, gathering student feedback, creating mentoring programs, connecting with other on-campus centers and promoting visibility of LGBTQ students on campus.

LGBTQ students “need to be able to see themselves in the spaces across campus,” he said.

Byrd said he wants his programs to focus on intersectionality and make sure LGBTQ students of different backgrounds feel welcomed by and supported at the center.

Inspiration for his leadership ideas come from his experiences at Unity Theme, Byrd said. He said he calls his LGBTQ students “QT Pies,” and works with them to solve on-campus problems, bring LGBTQ students into leadership positions and help first-year students adjust to campus life.

Byrd said he also gets his ideas from student development theory, counseling theory, and information from various experts and celebrities, including Dolly Parton.

“We can each do our own work, learn from one another and develop initiates that honor these students and address their direct needs,” Byrd said, in reference to his plans for working with other campus staff members.

One particularly relevant goal is to connect to and develop rapport with student, Byrd said. When asked by an audience member on how he planned to do so, Byrd said it was important to approach each student, space and community with a sense of curiosity and a willingness to learn.

He said developing trust is about “being there, being engaged, being curious.”

Published on February 1, 2018 at 11:38 pm

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu