June 19, 2003 — The University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center will sponsor a panel discussion titled “Defining Minority: A Process of Inclusion?” on Wednesday, June 25, from noon until 1 p.m. The forum will take place in room 253 of Orson Spencer Hall, 260 S. Central Campus Dr. The event is free and open to the public.
The panel discussion is designed to educate, foster dialogue and raise issues facing Salt Lake City’s and the University of Utah’s minority communities. Students and faculty will hear from a group of community leaders, government workers and university professors regarding nontraditional minorities in our community and their unexplored relationship to ethnic minorities.
In addition to its vibrant ethnic groups, Salt Lake City is home to a number of active minority communities, including the LGBT, disabled and elderly populations. The dialogue will include discussion on these groups’ integration into the term “minority” and how they should fall under antidiscrimination and equal protection policies.
The panel, moderated by the Hinckley Institute of Politics’ Tim Chambless, will feature Blythe Nobleman, minority affairs and communications coordinator for Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson’s office; William Smith, University assistant professor of Education, Culture & Society; Anna Archuleta, probation officer and community activist; Brenda Lyshaug, University assistant professor of Political Science and Gender Studies; and Tony Yapias, director of the State Office of Hispanic Affairs.
University of Utah LGBT Resource Center
The LGBT Resource Center provides a comprehensive range of education, information and advocacy services, and works to create and maintain an open, safe and supportive environment for LGBT students, staff, faculty, alumni and the entire campus community.
The LGBT Resource Center provides educational and social programs, support services and resources intended to:
1. Raise awareness regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
2. Affirm lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identities and lives by fostering a safe, inclusive, multicultural environment for the University’s LGBT community.
3. Support the academic mission of the University of Utah by promoting the inclusion of LGBT topics in the curriculum and other academic programs.
4. Build linkages with other LGBT organizations and allied programs through outreach and community development efforts.
University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics
In 1965, Robert H. Hinckley created the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah to “arouse responsible involvement in partisan politics and to deepen citizen awareness of politics as an honorable and significant profession.” At that time, the Institute was one of very few similar organizations in the country. Through the years, the Institute has brought politicians and speakers from around the world to Utah and placed thousands of students in internships in Washington, D.C., the Utah State Legislature and at other state and local levels. Late in his life, when Robert H. Hinckley was asked to name his greatest accomplishment, he said, “The Hinckley Institute is one of the most important things I will have ever done.”
The purpose of the Hinckley Institute of Politics is to share Robert H. Hinckley’s vision and to encourage and teach students respect for politics and the importance of citizen involvement in government. Hinckley wholeheartedly believed in democracy and in the strength that comes from ordinary people taking part in government. Former Utah Governor Calvin L. Rampton said, “Every politician in this state is in (Mr. Hinckley’s) debt for preaching the gospel of the importance of politics and politicians. I can’t think of a more important project for a university to undertake than to get that message across, and to prepare young men and women to take our places . . . .We are a better state for what he has done.”