With an active LGBTQ+ student, faculty, and staff community and a fully inclusive nondiscrimination policy, Rensselaer asks all students, “Why Not Change The World?”
Resources
There are a variety of resources available for the LGBTQ+ community. Visit the links below for more information.
While there are no classes that deal exclusively with LGBTQ+ issues, there are many classes that may include a discussion of LGBTQ+ topics.
Classes that are frequently offered within the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences:
- Human Sexuality
- Social Psychology
- Human Factors
- Gender, Science, and Technology (STS)
- Bio-punk (ARTS)
- Queer Ecologies (ARTS)
Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART)
The Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART) is a nimble, far-reaching, comprehensive committee with the necessary specialties, talent, and knowledge to respond to the emergent needs of the Rensselaer student community as it relates to incidents of bias, hate, or other marginalizing acts.
Reporting for Staff & Faculty
To report incidents of bias, discrimination, or harassment against faculty and/or staff, please use the Discrimination and Harassment Complaint Form or contact Human Resources via email at hrmail@rpi.edu
RPI’s Division of Human Resources (518) 276-6302
RPI’s Employee Assistance Program (518) 465-3813 or 1-800-777-6531
The Employee Assistance Program makes professional counseling assistance available for any personal problems that may affect the quality of your life and adversely impact your job performance. Capital EAP provides free and confidential assessment, short-term counseling, and information/referral services to RPI employees and their families (spouse and dependents).
Gender-neutral/inclusive housing is available to both freshmen and upperclassmen living in Rensselaer residence halls. For more information, please contact the Office of Student Living and Learning
For your convenience, numerous gender-inclusive restrooms are available throughout campus.
Single-Occupancy Restrooms (Rensselaer Main Campus)
This list was complied by volunteers and is current as of August 1, 2019. Please help us keep this list current and contact the LBGTQ+ Task Force with any updates to this list.
| BUILDING | FLOOR/LEVEL | SIGNAGE | HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE |
| ACADEMY HALL | 2nd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | No |
| ACADEMY HALL | 2nd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| ACADEMY HALL | 2nd Floor | Women | Yes |
| ACADEMY HALL | 3rd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| ACADEMY HALL | 3rd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| ACADEMY HALL | 4th Floor | Women | Yes |
| ACADEMY HALL | 4th Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| ACADEMY HALL | 4th Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | No |
| ADMISSIONS BLDG | 2nd Floor | Women | No |
| AMOS EATON HALL | 1st Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| AMOS EATON HALL | 1st Floor | Women | Yes |
| EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER | Information Desk Level | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER | Cafe Level | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| LOW CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION | 4th Floor | Women | No |
| LOW CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL INNOVATION | 4th Floor | Men | No |
| MATERIALS RESEARCH CENTER | 1st Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| MATERIALS RESEARCH CENTER | 2nd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| MATERIALS RESEARCH CENTER | 3rd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| MUELLER CENTER | 1st Floor | Men | Yes |
| MUELLER CENTER | 1st Floor | Men | Yes |
| MUELLER CENTER | 1st Floor | Women | Yes |
| MUELLER CENTER | 1st Floor | Women | Yes |
| PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICES | Main Floor | Visitor Restroom | No |
| PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICES | Main Floor | Visitor Restroom | No |
| RENSSELAER UNION (Mothers) | 1st Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| RENSSELAER UNION (Patroon Room) | 2nd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| RICKETTS BUILDING | 2nd Floor | Women | No |
| RICKETTS BUILDING | 4th Floor | Restroom | No |
| TROY BUILDING | 2nd Floor | Gender-Neutral Restroom | Yes |
| WEST HALL | Ground Floor | Restroom | No |
The LGBTQ+ Mentoring Network is a program designed to engage mentors (“out” LGBTQ+ staff, faculty, and alumni) and mentees (LGBTQ+ undergraduate and graduate students) in mentoring relationships.
Mentors may:
- Be a friendly face on campus, in person, and/or virtually to connect with
- Provide professional advice and emotional support
- Help mentees cultivate positive self-esteem
- Build rewarding personal relationships with mentees
- Serve as healthy and successful role models
- Help mentees address issues or concerns related to their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, and/or gender identity and expression
Mentors are not professional counselors. When appropriate, mentors may suggest mentees seek out professional counseling as a means to support their mental health. Mentees are not required to seek out and/or participate in counseling. However, mentees should respect the limitations of mentors who do not have advanced professional degrees in mental health.
For more information, contact Tara R. Schuster, Coordinator of the LGBTQ+ Mentoring Network at schust@rpi.edu
Rensselaer provides a variety of resources for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) campus community. The “LGBTQ+ Task Force” is a volunteer group of staff, faculty, and students from Rensselaer who work towards creating a more inclusive and welcoming campus community for LGBTQ+ campus community members and their guests, alumni, and visitors. Members of the LGBTQ+ Task Force work across four subcommittee areas to help create a more inclusive and welcoming campus community: Policy, Curriculum, Events, and External Relations. You are encouraged to join our Discord Channel.
Part of the mission of the LGBTQ+ Task Force is to ensure that all LGBTQ+ campus community members at Rensselaer have the right and expectation of safety in their personal identity and the expression of that identity, whatever it may be, within the bounds of both the law and mutual respect for the differences of other members of the Institute.
Examples of past (and ongoing) LGBTQ+ Task Force projects include: the re-designation of single occupancy restrooms on campus as gender-neutral restrooms; completion of a campus climate index assessment that utilized best practices to determine campus strengths and areas for improvement; utilizing information garnered from said assessment to advise next steps and initiatives; development of an annual Lavender Graduation for LGBTQ+ graduates; and a biennial campus-wide event series.
All activities of the LGBTQ+ Task Force are made possible via generous donations made by campus departments and donors of the LGBTQ+ Task Force’s “weR Gold” crowdsource funding website page: https://impact.rpi.edu/project/13667 Consider making a donation today!
For questions regarding the LGBTQ+ Task Force, resources, or support, please contact the LGBTQ+ Task Force.
LGBTQ+ Task Force Members
Claire Gonyo, Co-Chair (She/Her)
Class Dean, Office for Student Success
Lee Ligon, Co-chair (She/Her)
Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Biological Sciences
Shannon Johnson, Member (She/Her/Them)
Web Manager, EMPAC
E.P. Press, Member (They/Them)
Lecturer, Arts Department
Guy Schaffer, Member (He/Him)
Lecturer, Science and Technology Studies Department
Emily Stevens, Member (She/Her)
Assistant Director, Graduate Admissions
LOCAL LGBTQ RESOURCE CENTERS
Pride Center of the Capital Region (518) 462-6138
The Pride Center of the Capital Region (Capital Pride Center) is dedicated to serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the Capital District. Based in Albany, the Pride Center has been meeting the diverse needs of LGBT people in a seven county region since 1970. Our programs, both at the Center (332 Hudson Ave. in Albany) as well as held throughout the region, meet the health and human service needs of the LGBT community as well as educate and advocate for those needs in the broader Capital District. As the oldest continuously-operating gay and lesbian community center in the country, the Pride Center has worked to build a welcoming and empowering community for all people.
In Our Own Voices (518) 432-4188
The mission of In Our Own Voices is to work for and ensure the physical, mental, spiritual, political, cultural and economic survival and growth of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color communities.
The RPI Rainbow Connection is a Discord space for the RPI queer community and allies to meet, discuss, and share advice. This space is also the home of the RPI LGBTQ+ Mentoring Network. Click to join our Discord Channel.
For more information, contact Tara R. Schuster, Administrator of the RPI Rainbow Connection, at schust@rpi.edu
Rensselaer Pride Alliance
The Rensselaer Pride Alliance (RPA) is a non-partisan student-run organization at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. RPA’s purpose is to provide support and advocacy for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and allied individuals within the Rensselaer community. RPA tries to increase positive awareness of the LGBTQQA community by hosting speakers, movies, and participating in festivals such as Coming-Out Week and AIDS Awareness Week. RPA tries whenever possible to provide educational information on issues concerning the LGBTQQA community as a means to help stop homophobia and transphobia. Click to join their Discord Server.
Trans RPI
With 100+ members of the Rensselaer community (students, former students, and alumni), this “for students, by students” group is open only to trans, nonbinary, and gender-questioning folks in order to have a safe space to create community and support each other through school. If you are interested in joining the Trans RPI Discord Server, please reach out to Tara R. Schuster, Administrator of RPI Rainbow Connection and LGBTQ+ Mentoring Network, at schust@rpi.edu who can put you in touch with student administrators.