History
The establishment of the Resource Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity can be
credited to the efforts of many different people and organizations throughout the
years. These efforts included students, staff and faculty whose presence, requests,
demands and activism led to the creation of the Queer Resource Center in 1999. The
history of campus organizing began when a student organization, the Gay Students’
Union was first created at UCSB in 1972 (later becoming the Gay People’s Union in
1977). A faculty, staff and student LGB awareness group was formed in 1989 and one
of their first goals was the creation of a LGB Center at UCSB. A formal bid for
a Center was made in 1994 by a number of LGB groups including the student LGBA,
GLB Graduate Student Network, LGB Faculty Group, LGB Staff Association, University
Committee on LGBT Concerns, the rap groups and LGBs of Color. In February of 1995,
UCSB hosted the first UC system-wide LGBT conference. Another formal proposal for
a center was made to the Chancellor in 1998 by the Queer Student Union.
In October 1998, the day after the vigil for Matthew Sheppard, the Queer Peer Intern
spoke to the Chancellor about the lack of support for LGBT students at UCSB and
the need for allies. Soon after the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
pledged funds for a LGBT Coordinator and small operating budget. In Winter, 1999,
a large group of students protested for the protection and growth of Ethnic and
Queer studies on campus. Out of this protest came a commitment from the Chancellor
and Vice Chancellor to find a space for a LGBT Center on campus.
The first LGBT Coordinator was hired in June, 1999 and the center was officially
opened in Fall, 1999 on the third floor of the University Center. The center was
originally called the Queer Resource Center until the name was changed to the Resource
Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Spring, 2001. The first full-time Assistant
Director of LGBT Resources was hired in September 2005, thanks to additional funding
from a student-initiated mandatory fee that was passed during the student elections
the previous April. The Resource Center moved to its current location in the Student
Resource Building in February 2007.
RCSGD Staffing History:
Queer Peer Interns: 1997-1998 Sergio Morales 1998-1999 Janet Mallen 1999-2000 Cecilia
“CC” Sapp 2005-2006 Cameo Flores, Joel Rodriguez-Flores, & Christine Shearer
2006-2007 Anti-Racist Community Intern Jennie Beeson Front Desk Associates Pritesh
Pillay Isaac Rodriguez Stacy Umezu Leigh Zeiske Graduate Student Intern Larisa Veloz
Queer Peer Intern Gloria Schindler
Directors:
2007- present Samuel Santos, Jr.
2002-2007 Kyle Richards
2001-2002 Stacey Shears
2000-2001 Maurice Hudson
1999-2000 Debbie Bazarsky
Assistant Directors:
Rebecca Chapman
Erin McGinnis Pullin
Stephanie Eunha Lee