As a welcoming campus, it's important for Mount Mercy to respond to the needs of the LGBTQ community. This often marginalized population has unique needs. Many LGBTQ people experience verbal, physical, and/or sexual abuse—solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Many individuals in the LGBTQ community also have spiritual and pastoral needs.
In the spirit of Mercy and compassion, Mount Mercy offers Safe Zone training to the campus community for the purpose of education and to address any fears and/or misunderstandings about sexual orientation and gender identity. Safe Zone training will be held in the Flaherty Community Room (204 Basile Hall) and will be in-person this year.
Safe Zone I
Wednesday, October 23 | 3:30-5:00 PM
Safe Zone II
Tuesday, March 4 | 3:30-5:00 PM
To RSVP for a Safe Zone Training event or if you would like to learn more, please contact Dr. April Dirks at adirks@mtmercy.edu.
Safe Zone training is scheduled at least once per semester. Training is voluntary and open to students and employees. It will help the campus be an environment where LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff are assured physical and psychological safety, as well as spiritual and pastoral support, allowing them to focus on education and personal development.
As a Catholic and Mercy institution of higher education, we believe that all people are created in the image of a loving God, and because of that, all people have inherent dignity and worth. All people deserve to be treated with equal and utmost respect. It is within this spirit of dignity, identity, freedom, compassion, and care that Safe Zone training is offered.
Safe Zones create a space/place where lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queer/questioning and allies:A visible sign of support should be displayed in the employee’s work space as a way of communicating to the LGBTQ community that Safe Zone training has been completed. Having a visible sign is not an indication that the owner identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, nor does it mean that those without Safe Zone signs displayed are unsupportive or uncaring.
Faculty and staff who completed the training will display a Safe Zone sign, showing their commitment to creating a safe place for people to have discussions about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning-related issues without fear of receiving negative responses or judgment.
It is critical for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning individuals to have safe spaces to seek support and understanding.
Identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning may lead to anger, fear, silence, and sometimes even violence. Because of this, a Mount Mercy Safe Zone sign helps identify these safe spaces on campus.