John Foster III Center for Belonging and Community

• 16 Ways to be a Transgender Advocate and Ally

• First Sun EAP Resources on Anti Racism
• Council of Independent Colleges Recommended Reading Lists

• A List of Interfaith Contacts

The John Foster III Center for Belonging and Community is here to be an ally for our transgender students. You are not alone.

Your Coker story is an integral part of our community’s narrative. We recognize that the process of coming out as a transgender person is different, and in some ways more complex, than the experience of coming out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Coming out is a unique experience for everyone, and here at Coker, we want to be supportive throughout your transition.

Remember, you are not alone. 

If you need guidance, assistance, or resources, the Center for Diversity, Interfaith & Inclusion Education wants to help. Please contact us any time.

Safe Zone Training

The Center for Diversity, Interfaith & Inclusion Education offers Safe Zone training sessions throughout the semester. Contact us for more information about upcoming workshops, or to schedule one for your group.

From the Human Rights Campaign website: 

“For those people whose gender identity or innate sense of their own gender doesn’t match with that assigned to them at birth, unraveling and expressing it can be complex and difficult.

This guide was designed to help you and your loved ones through that process in realistic and practical terms. It acknowledges that the experience of coming out or disclosure covers the full spectrum of human emotion – from paralyzing fear to unbounded euphoria. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation hopes this guide helps you meet the challenges and opportunities that living as authentically as possible can offer to each of us.”

Download a Guide to Being You

FREE SPEECH IS CRUCIAL TO OUR SENSE OF BELONGING TO, AND OF OUR IDENTITY IN, A COLLECTIVE SPACE.

Coker University believes speech should be grounded in our unified efforts to include, to respect, and to care for all citizens. The freedom of speech ultimately yields controversy in communities that understand that truth is so complex that it can only emerge in mixed form. Just as the friction between two sticks yields the light of fire, the cacophony of voices that challenge, object, question, and critique can bring more light to any issue. Concurrently, the heart of education is the desire to make the wealth of human knowledge available, to foster new understanding, and to support ideas and actions that will lead to a more just and more equitable world for all humankind.

However, as we look out at the world, watch the news, or read social media, we may be dismayed by the words being spoken and the actions that are currently taking place–actions that divide, insult, and demean other people. The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented a rise in incidents of hate directed at people of color, immigrants and refugees, and people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. These events are occurring across the world, in the United States, in South Carolina, on college campuses. Coker University is not immune to this disturbing pattern of behavior.

We do not seek to omit differences among citizens. On the contrary, we value the diverse experiences that each citizen of the community brings when those opposing voices struggle to persuade and elevate. Diversity edifies this struggle. We value its potential to render interlocutors as agonists–those who struggle together in pursuit of some goal–as opposed to antagonists–those who struggle against opponents. This can ultimately lead to strength and concord.

Scholarship and education must take place in an atmosphere of civil discourse. We can disagree without insulting, offending, or hurting other people, but we will not remain silent in the face of intimidation, ridicule, or bigotry. Language that debases, demeans, ridicules, stereotypes, or belittles others is at odds with Coker’s educational objective and will not be tolerated. Therefore, it is necessary for members of the University to recognize and actively resist incidents of verbal harassment and intimidation, whether by voice, gesture, social media, phone or text, taking place on our campus. This behavior makes others feel unwelcome and is a violation of University policy; it has no place at Coker University.

It is up to each one of us to make the University a community that welcomes and celebrates the essential worth and unique qualities of each person. We hold ourselves and all around us to a high standard of speech–forgiving imperfect attempts at learning to speak in such a voice, but continuing to recognize that the well-being of diverse citizens is always at the center of democracy’s aim at Coker University.

For more information on diversity and inclusion please contact Darlene Small, Director of the John Foster III Center for Belonging and Community, dsmall@coker.edu, 843-383-8039, LITC 118.