April 1, 2015 | By Adam Eickmeyer
The OUTlist seeks to foster professional relationships and mentoring opportunities through engaging LGBTQ faculty, staff, students, and alumni in the creation of online searchable profiles. The OUTlist will serve as a database where University Community members can connect with one another and where individuals new to the community can look to for resources.
Adam Eickmeyer started working on the OUTlist about a year ago with the support of Will Sherry, Mark Kamimura, and Natalie Bartolacci. He wanted to create something like this because of the impactful mentoring he received from a lesbian faculty member at a time that he thought his queer identity was detrimental for a future in academia. He was lucky to have her reach out to him before either knew of the other's identity, but he knew that many students were not as fortunate to have someone they could talk to about their identity. The Faculty Pride Pages existed, but few people knew about that resource. Thus, the OUTlist was conceptualized and created.
The launch of the OUTlist was extraordinary. We had dozens of people already on the list by the time we publicly launched it on March 16th at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. The reception had great attendance from people already on the OUTlist and others who were there to support it. Adam, Will, and Mark gave brief talks on their connection to and hopes for the future of the OUTlist.
We would love if all of you would check out the OUTlist at www.spectrumcenter.umich.edu/outlist and consider adding yourself to this growing community! Please feel to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.