A new initiative may soon lead Saint Louis University to a place where few Catholic universities have gone before.

If the plan comes to fruition, the Busch Student Center will house a new resource center that would cater to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community at SLU.

Andrew Clifton, Student Government Association president, hopes to provide GLBT students with more options and an on-campus support outlet.

Over the summer, Clifton decided to begin his initiative to build a GLBT resource center on campus, and called Justin Gimotea, president of Rainbow Alliance, SLU’s GLBT student group.

“I feel that this initiative is long overdue,” said Gimotea. “[It] is a great sign of hope for current and future SLU students because it will make SLU’s reputation for social justice real to a marginalized group of people within our very own community.”

Several other members of the SLU community have joined Clifton and Gimotea to help push this initiative. Supporters include BSC Manager Chris Grabau; medical school professor Ken Haller, M.D.; and Assistant Vice President of Student Development Scott Smith, among others.

According to SGA Executive Vice President Samantha Howard, Campus Ministry has been interested in the project as well and will eventually have some involvement.

Tensions about this issue rose last spring when a faculty member verbally assaulted students setting up for a Rainbow Alliance event. After the incident, Clifton and others felt that there was a need for an overall improved tolerance and awareness of GLBT issues within the SLU community.

The project currently remains in the research stage. Supporters are looking to other Catholic and Jesuit universities to find out exactly what resources a successful center should provide.

Although several members of Rainbow Alliance are backing this initiative, the center is not intended to be exclusively a meeting room for the club. Instead, it would provide a relatively confidential atmosphere for any member of the community to receive support and information on GLBT issues. The center would aim to provide a mix of support from students and teachers and perhaps professional counseling as well. Literature would also be supplied for those struggling with their sexuality.

Although the center would primarily be an outlet for GLBT students, supporters hope that it will also improve overall tolerance and awareness for the entire campus.

As conservative Catholic opinions on homosexuality could potentially make GLBT students a little uneasy at SLU, Clifton hopes that the resource center will make this part of the community feel more comfortable.

“Reaching out to people who are pushed aside in today’s culture, especially in the Catholic Church, is definitely engaging with the Jesuit mission,” Clifton said. “Accepting all individuals into friendship is part of our tradition.”

SLU President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., echoed that same sentiment.

“As a Jesuit Catholic tradition, we’re not doing anything the Catholic Church would disagree with,” he said about the resource center initiative and Rainbow Alliance. “We’re all welcome in the kingdom.”

If Clifton gets his way, the plan will go in front of SGA, the Faculty Senate and eventually the President’s Coordinating Council by November. By building up community support, Clifton hopes to get the initiative approved and the center completed by the end of the year.

If approved, the center will be built into a space on the lower level of the BSC. The source of funding is yet to be determined, but Clifton suspects funding will come out of the Department of Student Development budget.