Student Services Spotlight: SAFE@HFC
This article is part of a series highlighting Student Services. For information about all HFC student services, please visit the Student Services section of our website.
The goal of SAFE@HFC is to spread awareness, and to support and welcome HFC students and employees who are members of, or allies to, the LBGTQ+ community.
"Our efforts are needed now more than ever, given the current national climate. We’re committed to being there and supporting the people who are part of the LBGTQ+ community in any way we can. We’re not going away,” said SAFE@HFC chairperson Dr. Laura Willman, interim director of Institutional Research and Business Intelligence.
SAFE@HFC is a campus organization of faculty and staff. The organization’s work focuses on providing support to LGBTQ+ faculty, staff, and students. SAFE@HFC also works to engage the College community to spread awareness, provide support, and connect students and employees to various resources.
“We make ourselves available to anyone who needs support,” said Willman. “We have shared this information with faculty, so they can also be a resource to help students find support.”
Finding allies
Many SAFE@HFC volunteers are allies. Allies are open and knowledgeable about LGBTQ+ issues. Allies choose to provide support openly, actively, and consistently for LGBTQ+ individuals and communities. Allies support full, equal civil rights; gender equality and positive social change. They stand against discrimination and targeting behaviors, such as homophobia, bi-phobia, and transphobia. Allies are often, though not always, cisgender, straight individuals.
SAFE@HFC comprises a diverse and inclusive committee of volunteers from across the College. The group holds annual ally training sessions so the College community can remain informed, educated, and knowledgeable about how to support our students, faculty, and staff. Trained allies are identified on our website. Allies don’t solve problems, but they listen, they care, they are safe points of contact, and they connect people with additional resources.
For questions or more information about SAFE@HFC, contact safe@hfcc.edu or lawillman@hfcc.edu.
SAFE@HFC is closely affiliated with the Sexuality And Gender Acceptance Club (SAGA) Club, a student-led group whose mission is to support students in their lives as LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. For questions or more information about SAGA, contact SAGA faculty advisor Dr. Chelsea Lonsdale at calonsdale@hfcc.edu.