Approximately 35,000 students attend American River College—a former Sacramento junior college that became a part of the Los Rios Community College District in 1965. With such an elevated headcount, it’s no wonder that the campus on the old Cameron Ranch is so diverse. Students, both young and old, come predominantly from within the Golden State for an education that fits within their busy lives. California is a state that’s oft-perceived as very liberal and pro-gay; you might assume that American River College has a flourishing LGBT community because of this. The fact of the matter is that it’s more fledgling than flourishing. Nonetheless, the visibility and involvement of the school’s LGBT group grows year after year. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been without their setbacks. Read on to learn more about American River College’s LGBT community, and decide for yourself if it’s still the right school for you.
FIERCE, typically preceded by Queer Straight Alliance, is the university’s official LGBT group. Their mission statement is a simple yet heartfelt message: respect everyone and embrace diversity. Unlike other schools we’ve encountered, their team is rather small. It consists of just a president, vice-president, treasurer and two advisors. Though they might not have the numbers yet, they definitely have spirit. Their brightly colored tables are easy to spot on club recruiting days. They are on an active group who meet twice a month in the student center’s designated club room. It’s important to note that FIERCE doesn’t operate out of a LGBT-focused center like more and more schools are approving. This could be due to lack of faculty, funding or even just administrative support. Whatever the case may be, it does show that this is still very much a group that’s trying to find prominence on campus.
Speaking of finding prominence on campus, a more recent article highlights the group’s initiatives to do just that. They’re striving to be a more social group these days. That means more events and more opportunities to spread awareness to the community at large. Perhaps the community still needs that education, too. A quote in the piece from the group’s president, Brett Spencer, references an “ugly history” with LGBT students feeling unsafe and oppressed.
The history hearkens back to 2008, when the controversial Proposition 8 hadn’t yet been voted on. Reminder: this involved the legalization of gay marriage. Surprisingly, the school’s student council voted 8-3 to support the ban. Supporters felt that the proposition didn’t “protect our traditional family values”. The upside of the situation is that the student body was outraged by the position. Over 450 signatures were collected on a petition to recall the students who voted for the ban. Viktor Choban, the councilman, made many hotly contested remarks about the LGBT group at the hearing. He claimed that the group used pornographic propaganda material, and that their lifestyle was a personal choice rather than a civil rights issue. At this time, the climate for LGBT students was very tense as these two sides protested one another back and forth on campus and through local media.
If you’re looking for a school with a well-funded and very established LGBT group, then you won’t find it at American River College. What you will find is a tight-knit community that’s not afraid to chase their goals. The group is filled with bright, inviting individuals looking to spread awareness in their community. They do, of course, have plenty of fun in the process as well.
Now that you’ve got all of that off your mind, why don’t you ponder which professors you should and shouldn’t take at American River College? We promise there are some real gems in there.
Ryan James is a ’13 alumnus of Ohio University’s College of Arts & Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in writing and media. He currently works as a copywriter for a Fortune 500 e-commerce corporation based in Columbus, OH.