Bellevue College has recently hired its first ever Program Lead for the LGBTQ+ Resource Center on campus. Kenton Westerfield (they/them) was hired recently, after five years as an advisor and contributor to the LGBTQ+ Task Force out of Highline College. Prior to their new involvement in the program, the duties have largely fallen onto student coordinators.
“I know being a resource for a community that has sometimes a lot of really specific needs and is looking for certain resources, having just a student coordinator isn’t always as holistic of help as it could be,” said Westerfield, showing excitement in their ability to be able to serve the community in ways that couldn’t necessarily be done before.
Westerfield, despite extensive work in the area, graduated hundreds of miles away from the University of Colorado. Still, they were excited to get the position here, stating that “I’ve always wanted to do work directly supporting LGBTQ+ students and that population.”
Furthermore, through campus tours and informational meetings, their first impression of the community at BC was quite positive. “There have been lots of different offices I’ve seen around campuses that have all kinds of pride flags up and everything so it’s something that I really love to see,” Westerfield said.
Part of their initial goals for the LGBTQ+ Resource Center is a reworking of the mission statement. As it stands now, the mission statement left behind for Westerfield focused on the education of the BC community on LGBTQ+ issues. However, that doesn’t quite fit Westerfield’s vision. “I would really kind of see as the main focus of this office as being a place for building community and support and advocacy for queer and transgender students here at Bellevue College,” they said. The goal here is to move advocacy and support to the center of the mission, pushing the education of others to a secondary goal.
Allyship in this case means to be learning and growing as a supporter of LGBTQ+ individuals, or any marginalized community that faces certain disadvantages. Westerfield also mentioned the importance of “being able to support them and amplify the voice of people within that community,” while also “not speaking over the community when you’re trying to support them.”
Further down the line, Westerfield is expecting some building renovations this year and is looking forward to hosting something of a “grand reopening” of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center. At the end of the 2024-25 school year, they are also looking forward to running the Lavender Graduation, an annual graduation ceremony that focuses on celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and their contributions to the college.
Westerfield remains quite eager to build a community on campus, especially considering they got hired during the summer and haven’t had much of an opportunity to meet with many students. Located in the student engagement office on the second floor of the C Building, the LGBTQ+ Resource Center is open for anyone to visit, regardless of if you have questions or are looking to build community with other queer and trans folks on campus.
Anybody with any questions can reach out to Westerfield at kenton.westerfield@bellevuecollege.edu.
Furthermore, the LGBTQ+ Resource Center is currently looking for applications for a student affinity coordinator. Outside of that, anybody is welcome to get involved if they have ideas for events or various programming ideas they would like to make happen. The only ask in regards to the cis community is that “there will be times and events that are meant as more of an affinity space where members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community can connect with one another.”
