Two-year institutions educate a sizeable proportion of college students; however, many of these institutions lack the variety of student support resources available at four-year institutions. An extensive body of scholarship has documented the positive influence of student services resources for diverse student populations at two-year colleges;…

LGBTQ+ students are increasingly visible on community college campuses, and a safe and welcoming campus climate is critical to LGBTQ+ students' academic success and well-being. Campus climate is difficult to assess for prospective LGBTQ+ community college students, and institutional websites may be a source of information about campus climate.…

Research has indicated that heteronormativity in ESOL classrooms may prevent lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) students from producing meaningful language output and negotiating their identities in new social contexts (e.g., Liddicoat, 2009). This study aimed to understand (a) how LGBTQ+ students perceive the framing of sexual…

This chapter details the perspectives of LGBTQ collegians and faculty/staff allies at 2-year institutions.

Many community colleges are unwelcoming to LGBTQ students and this chapter provides practical suggestions to community college leaders to develop a more inclusive campus culture.

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms…

In March 2000, an "ERIC Digest" was published on the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students on community college campuses. It was immediately apparent that there was a dearth of literature on the subject, nor was research being conducted about these student populations. The "Digest" examined some possible reasons why. This…

This article provides a framework for understanding and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students in community colleges. It should be noted that many of the understandings and structural supports often apply to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) faculty and staff as well. The study is based upon…

Due to the invisible nature of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) undergraduate population, it is difficult for student affairs professionals at community colleges to identify and address the needs of sexual minority students on campus. Given the lack of literature regarding LGBTQ students at community colleges, student…

Literature suggests that individuals who identify as LGBTQ may engage in more alcohol and other drug (AOD) use/abuse than others. Little data is available about these populations on college campuses where AOD use may be seen as part of the general campus climate and culture. This article will describe a qualitative needs assessment conducted on 10…

Community colleges are among the most diverse institutions in the American higher education system. Students across lifestyles, creeds, racial/ethnic backgrounds, gender groups, ability levels, and socioeconomic status reflect the legacy of two-year institutions to provide educational opportunities for many on the margins of full participation.…

Sixteen scholarly papers and twenty abstracts comprise the content of the eighteenth annual Brick & Click Libraries Conference, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the conference, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship.…

A lesbian teacher, recently returned from four years in Japan and teaching an intermediate ESL class in a public community college in New York City, struggles with addressing the issue of her own sexual orientation while using a novel with a protagonist who is questioning his sexual identity. The evolution of gay/lesbian and/or queer theory…

Due to the transitory nature of students at community colleges, it is often difficult for student affairs professionals to connect with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and even more difficult for them to provide services for this invisible population.