As we have seen, campus climate is created and communicated in many different ways. Institutional policy, campus events, and interpersonal experiences all create, reinforce, and communicate how queer people fit into the Lafayette narrative. It is not so simple as saying that queer people either do or do not belong here, however. Policies, events, and interpersonal experiences all simultaneously reinforce a climate that silences queer people while reimagining a climate that includes queer people. The disconnect between the Domestic Partner Benefits Policy and the Princeton Review article as well as the lack of coverage of the hugely successful Gay? Fine By Me campaign illustrate that just visibility or acknowledgement of queerness at Lafayette does not mean that there is an inclusive climate. It might lay the base for building an inclusive and accepting climate, but it is not sufficient. It takes active, committed work to create a culture shift.

In addition, it is clear from the differences in experiences of Leah Wasacz, ‘16, and Stacey-Ann Pearson, ‘15, that climate is not a static, linear, or universal thing. How individuals experience the climate varies and leads to varied trajectories. Pearson experienced a closed-off climate and shut away the queer part of her identity for quite some time. Wasacz, on the other hand, experienced an open and welcoming climate which allowed her to grow and learn more about herself. I use these two women as examples because they only graduated one year apart and had a three-year overlap in their time at Lafayette. This makes it clear that climate does not necessarily “improve” over time, but rather is a dynamic, individualized experience.

As a student at Lafayette College with only one year of overlap with Leah Wasacz, I can say that my own experience of the climate around queerness is vastly different from those of Leah and Stacey-Ann. Since I have been at Lafayette, I have seen more and more people holding hands on the quad in same-sex relationships and multiple queer-oriented student groups emerge. I have never heard someone speak about LGBTQ+ people the way that Pearson describes and I have seen varying sexual orientations and gender identities get acknowledged by professors and peers.

This is not to say that Lafayette is a queer utopia. Queer people are still so often left out of the conversation or ignored, especially of varying intersectional identities. Some people still have the opposite experience as me and do not feel comfortable or safe coming out or being open about their own identity. But climate can change, even if it is an agonizingly slow and painful process.