The center provides a welcoming environment.

Professor Emerita of English Dolores L. Noll (pictured front, left), a national pioneer in gay and lesbian issues, has been named interim director of Kent State’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Student Center by Dr. Alfreda Brown, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Noll, who last year was honored with the university’s first Diversity Trailblazer Award, was an early contributor to Kent State’s own history of supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender studies. That history goes back to 1972, when Noll became the first professor to teach a gay and lesbian issues course at Kent State.

Noll also was a founding adviser to the Kent Gay Liberation Front, now called PRIDE! Kent, one of the oldest gay rights student organizations in the country.

In 2001, Kent State began offering the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies minor, becoming the first university in Ohio to do so. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies minor is designed to allow students to explore sexuality and sexual minorities from a variety of perspectives.

When the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Student Center opened last year, Vice President Brown said the center would be a gathering place for students and others. “The center will raise awareness of LGBTQ communities and cultures, promote inclusion of and safe spaces for LGBTQ at Kent State and in the community, and promote dialogues about sexuality, gender and race,” Brown said.

Faculty volunteers from Kent State’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies program staff the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Student Center, located in Room 226M in the Kent Student Center.