Wednesday night, Wharton and Engineering sophomore Tyler Ernst was elected Chairman of Lambda Alliance, the umbrella organization for groups catering to lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer/questioning students on campus.
Ernst sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian to discuss his plans and goals for the year.
The Daily Pennsylvanian: What are your responsibilities as Lambda chairman?
Tyler Ernst: We represent our constituents to other student groups, to the University administration and to the press. It’s our responsibility to ... make progress on the LGBTQ front.
DP: How did you get involved with Lambda?
TE: Through a PENNacle leadership retreat ... I met the outgoing chair ... and the very first thing I was on was QPenn, and after that I just got involved in more and more constituent groups and finally on Lambda’s board this winter ... I was the vice chair of finance and development.
DP: What was your platform in your campaign for Lambda chair?
TE: The Three E’s: ... engagement, expansion and effectiveness. There are a lot of groups [in Lambda] and sometimes that makes it hard to function cohesively, … and we really want to expand and grow the community to include more allies, which are extremely important to us, as well as students who don’t necessarily identify with a particular constituent group.
DP: What are your biggest causes on campus and nationally?
TE: The two biggest things that come to mind are trans benefits in the … student health insurance program. Work has been started on that, and I think progress has been made, but I really want to ... complete that project. …We’ve been looking for almost 10 years now for a way to effectively gauge the campus climate and see how different minority groups feel, comfort wise, on campus [because] as LGBTQ students … you’re not necessarily identified on an admissions form, so [results of student satisfaction surveys] would really help us to focus our efforts. … A good example of where a national issue ties in with a Penn issue is the Westboro Baptist Church [protesting against homosexuality on] campus on Dec. 7. And I plan … to have a very strong [counter-protest] involvement from Lambda and the [minority coalitions] in that.
DP: Is your emphasis more on awareness or advocacy?
TE: Awareness, because I think that a lot of problems or misunderstandings arise from just a lack of education. ... I came from a very conservative, backwoodsy area, and I didn’t know anything about LGBTQ students before I came here, and I took the effort to get educated. … Awareness sort of engenders advocacy in itself.
DP: How do Penn’s LGBTQ resources compare to those at other schools?
TE: I’m happy to say that Penn is completely, by far, at the top. We’re ranked now by the Advocate. … We’re one of only two free-standing LGBT centers in the country, … but at the same time we need to step back and realize that there still things to be done. ... We need to be conscious of the fact that we are a model for other institutions.
DP: Does this encourage LGBTQ students to come out?
TE: I know about two or three people who came out to me this year. … The dialogue is there, the resources are in place, it’s not a hard thing to do if it’s something you’re comfortable [with doing] from a personality standpoint. ... My cause is that sometimes students feel everything is perfect here in our Penn bubble, and we don’t necessarily need to go out and get engaged.
