Support And Be Supported

Kean University is known to be diverse and an environment where cougars can feel comfortable being themselves. Organizations helping students feel more at ease in the university is a student initiative not foreign to Kean. Many students might believe that there is a new addition to the university organizations and that there would be yet another group that supports the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community. The organization P.R.I.D.E which stood for Peers, Respect, Interaction, Diversity, Equality has changed its name to K.U.G.A.R.: Kean University's Gay/Alliance Reformation. K.U.G.A.R. is one of Kean University's most diverse school funded groups as it strongly encourages students of all sexual orientation, self-identity, creed, and background. K.U.G.A.R is what society would call a Gay/Straight Alliance or GSA. This GSA is open to everyone on campus, including those who are allies of the gay community, but identify as heterosexual. The executive board of the program focuses on the stereotypes, strategies and hardships of being gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered, or GLBT. Many students have to deal with hatred and violence when they first come out to friends, family, and peers; hence, the group is designed to be a safe haven for those who are in need of guidance or an outreach. Benito Nieves, a junior English major with teacher certification option, is president of K.U.G.A.R. Daniel Roses, junior accounting major is vice president; Christie Costa, junior biology major is secretary; and Mario Da Costa, junior chemistry with the American Chemicals Society certified major is the treasurer; together they make up the executive board.

The student organization of Kean University and K.U.G.A.R. want to help by going to different high schools and starting a GSA program for them. They want to encourage school counselors to recommend the program to anyone who can benefit from a support group. K.U.G.A.R. intends to establish a relationship with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, GLSTEN, to assist with any complication the organization may have along the way with integrating these GSA's into the schools. GLSTEN enforces the value and respect of each member of every school community regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity/ expression. They also enforce the Equal Access Law which was passed in 1984 by Ronald Reagan under the belief that public schools should provide equal access to all extracurricular activities. If a school refuses to set up a club or program, they will legally be fined until they agree. The non-profit organizations Garden State Equality and Lambda Legal, which is a law team that deal with equal rights, are two additional partners that K.U.G.A.R. has establish as a force to promote immediate equality.

Besides being a GSA program, K.U.G.A.R. is a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, and questioning alliance (GLBTQA) group, who wants to be a rock for its community during difficult times as well as teach peers to open the minds and hearts of others. The organization plans to visit shelters where GLBT individuals reside due to abandonment or unfortunate circumstance. Some parents of GLBT's turn their backs on their children and the Division of Youth and Family Services, DYFS, comes to help those kids. With the suicide rate increasing among GLBT youths, shelters were created by DYFS to assist these adolescences.

K.U.G.A.R is paying much attention to making a difference in everyone's lives starting with discussing strategies. "The group will be focusing on tackling the discouraging outcome of the recent NJ equal marriage decision," explains Nieves. On January 7, 2010 in Trenton, NJ, the bill for same sex marriage was not passed because the vote ended up being 20/14 from the state senate. The organization plans to demand rights to the senate by writing letters and protesting to the senate and congressman.

The group will also become more involved in the community to benefit the GLBT community such as holding workshops about the process of coming out and how to become more comfortable about sexual identity. "When you are dealing with your own sexual identity, it is hard to deal with anything in life. Feeling comfortable in your own skin is more important than most people know," states Nieves. K.U.G.A.R. welcomes all who want to join them; their meetings are every Monday during college hour, 3:30 to 4:30 pm.