Facts: The GLBT center at N.C. State worked with Will Lamb to prepare the “It Gets Better at N.C. State” video to support the GLBT community on campus. The It Gets Better Project was started to show GLBT youth that there is a future being openly gay.
Our Opinion: It is a great initiative to make the community feel at home. Other universities in North Carolina should support the project and make their own videos to show their support.
N.C. State is the one of the first universities in North Carolina to support the It Gets Better Project by shooting the “It Gets Better at N.C. State” video. The video has sent a strong message that no one will be discriminated against for their sexual preference at N.C. State. This video shows that the campus community wants to make the GLBT community members feel welcome. The GLBT Center has done a great job moving this project forward and releasing the video publicly.
Going public with a video will surely make a difference to the image of N.C. State. It will reiterate the fact that N.C. State has been accommodating towards the GLBT and all the other communities on campus. The other universities in the triangle area, UNC system and the Universities all across the United States should support this cause and replicate the initiative to publicize their feelings for the GLBT community.
Future GLBT students, faculty and staff will know that N.C. State is one place where they will not be discriminated against. We should demand that the future campus community makes them feel at home here. This is another challenge to all universities across the US to learn from this example and create friendly environments on their campuses for the GLBT community.
GLBT community members have been tremendously courageous to come to terms with their sexuality and it is heroic of them to go public in a video. The community members have expressed their views fearlessly and we should appreciate their effort.
The video involves 39 people and has duration of 14 minutes. The video has been supported by the University administration, including Vice Chancellor Student Affairs Thomas Stafford and Chancellor Randy Woodson. The appearance of Woodson and Stafford makes a huge difference in the attitude of the campus community by making the administration’s opinion clear in the public forum.
The video’s popularity on www.itgetsbetter.org and Youtube has made the situation better for the GLBT community. Most GLBT community members have had a very difficult past and this initiative is bound to make them feel accepted. The video will have a long-lasting impact on people’s impressions of N.C. State. All students should watch this video and be more supportive of the issue, if they already aren’t. The message is loud and clear, we support you at N.C. State and you should never be discriminated against based on your preferences in personal life.
