University-Wide Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Issues records, 1969-1994.

The records of the University-Wide Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Issues consist of consists five series: Final Report, Focus Group and Surveys, Working Papers, Articles and Reference Materials, and Work Groups and Committees. The Final Report series consists of volumes one, two and three of the report. Volume I contains a history of the task force, recommendations, history of lesbians and gays at Michigan State University, and hopes for the future. Volume II consists of transcripts of forums, responses to open-ended questions from the survey, and codebooks which give statistical information used to analyze the surveys. In addition, there are transcripts of forums from Lesbian and Gay focus groups. This series retains the original order of the report. The Focus Groups and Surveys series contains transcripts from focus groups not included in the final report. They are excerpts taken from the transcriptions of the focus groups and compiled by subject. There is also a report summarizing the process of the survey and the focus groups. The series contains blank surveys that were handed out to faculty staff and students as well as the data from the questionnaires. The Working Papers series is comprised of documents relating to the general business of the Task Force and work groups. It contains executive meeting minutes, memos, notes, Gay and Lesbian Faculty group papers, and correspondence. Also included are documents about recommendations to the University including those to the Military Education Advisory Committee about ROTC issues. The Articles and Reference Materials series consists of articles from newspapers and magazines, including local sources, about issues relevant to the Task Force. The reference materials consist of policies from other universities, cities, and national groups on topics such as domestic partnership and housing. The Work Groups and Committees series consist of items generated by the specific work groups and the Publicity Subcommittee which was a part of the task force. Included are memos, correspondence, and notes. Additional materials: A CD-rom with additional electronic versions of the task force's final report is contained in a small box within Box 1844. Included are final reports produced by individual work groups. The small box also contains a tape recording of the Minority Issues forum. Audio tapes of interviews may not be reproduced and identifying names should not be published.

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: "Item title, Collection title, Collection Identifier, Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan."

Finding aid available in 101 Conrad Hall.

The archives of the University-Wide Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Issues (Michigan State University) was organized, conserved, and inventoried with funds provided by the American Radicalism Collection Endowment fund in honor & memory of Dr. Beth J. Shapiro (2006). (MSU Libraries)

The University-Wide Task Force on Lesbian and Gay Issues was created as a result of the MSU IDEA. The MSU IDEA was developed to achieve more diversity at MSU. Concerned faculty met with Provost David Scott in February of 1990 to discuss the lesbian and gay aspects of diversity. As a result, two consultants from Rutgers University were brought in to assess the needs of gays and lesbians at MSU. In addition, the task force was created to further address the issues. The first meeting of the task force was held on May 21, 1991. The task force gathered information by sent surveys out campus-wide hoping to get responses from lesbian, bisexual and gay faculty, staff, and students. They also held focus groups to determine the attitudes held by the university community about lesbians, bisexuals, and gays. The survey was conducted by the Center for Survey Research in the MSU Social Science Research Bureau. The task force printed the results of their findings and recommendations in the three volume report "Moving Forward: Lesbians and Gay Men at Michigan State University" in the fall of 1992.