Safe Zone Training and LGBTQ+ Representation on Campus

By Tyra Watts | Published December 16, 2022

LGBTQ+ representation is essential to those in the community. Having spaces dedicated to members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies can help spread awareness in most public settings, especially on college campuses.

LGBTQ+ representation can manifest on campus through Safe Zone Training, created by the Safe Zone Project.

The Safe Zone Project is an online resource that provides information regarding lessons for educators facilitating Safe Zone training on sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ+ education sessions. It was created in 2013 by writer Meg Bolger and author Sam Killermann. 

According to the Safe Zone Project, their online resources contribute to the movement and spirit of Safe Zone, a term that they consider to have many different meanings.

“For some of us, a Safe Zone training means a day-long intensive. For others, it’s a 45-minute vocab lesson,” The Safe Zone Project stated on its website. “While there is one “right way” to do a Safe Zone training (yay for more LGBTQ+ inclusion education!), there is a lot of confusion and mystery around where all this stuff came from, and what it means.”

Safe Zone training is common across many college campuses, including Kean University. The university had a university launch of Safe Zone Training on Nov. 15, 2022, in Townsend Hall.

Kean’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion hosted the event, and Mariah Jones, a graduate student of LGBTQIA+ Programs, ran the training. 

The event was primarily for the LGBTQ+ and Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) communities, and individuals who were interested in completing the Safe Zone Training.

The event included a presentation that discussed topics such as sex, gender, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Jones, who had completed her first Safe Zone Training during her first year of undergrad, explained that she took part in the training because she wanted to train others. She also believes in the importance of the LGBTQ+ community being supportive of one another and having allies to support the community. 

“There is strength in numbers,” Jones said. “I enjoyed going through the training because I think every time I participate in it or conduct it, I learn something new. It is ever evolving.”

When it comes to training others about the LGBTQ+ curriculum, Jones explained that it was important to her because although the LGBTQ+ community is more accepted than it was years ago, there is still a lot of work to be done and the LGBTQ+ community still faces challenges and hate. 

Despite this, Jones added that part of the training is recognizing and understanding that we are all human. 

Before becoming a graduate student and Safe Zone certified, Jones worked full-time back in her home community with youth that identified with the LGBTQ+ community and connected them to resources such as affirming therapists, mentors, and much more.

When Jones came to the Kean campus, she did take part in incorporating LGBTQ+ representation on campus, such as the Pride Festival event that took place at the Clock Tower on Oct. 10, 2022. 

Although Jones participated in the event, she stated that she does not think her experiences are much different from any organization trying to thrive on campus. However, she added that it does require a lot of research and collaboration.

“It takes a team to pull things together. There is a challenge with balancing entertaining students and educating them,” Jones said.

For those who are not members of the LGBTQ+ community, Jones says it is important to educate yourself rather than to assume or take one person’s experience and make it the face of their understanding of the community.  

Jones goes on to explain that it is more than just the pride we see in June that is all fun and rainbows and that there are a lot of challenges, backlash, and a continuous fight to be equal. 

During her time as a graduate student, Jones hopes to bring more awareness to the intersectionality of the LGBTQ+ population. 

Another way that LGBTQ+ representation can manifest on campus is through clubs and organizations that specialize in the LBGTQ+ community. An organization on campus that exudes this is Kean’s PRISM.

The purpose of Kean PRISM is to create a safe space for all members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, as well as people who have a passion for raising awareness, educating, and enacting change on LGBTQ+ issues. 

The President of Kean PRISM, Rashaad Couloote, stated that LGBTQ+ representation on campus is a necessity, especially for those who don’t know how to discuss or don’t know much about the LGBTQ+ community. 

Couloote joined Kean PRISM back in the Fall 2019 semester, where he created a connection with the E-Board and its members. From there, he decided to become an E-Board member. His first position was rainbow chair in the Fall 2020 semester, and then secretary in the Spring 2021 semester. 

During his time as Kean PRISM President, Couloote’s goal is to assist in an LGBTQ+ center on campus and Safe Zone training. His overall goal is to create a safe space on campus that everyone knows about so that if students need it, they can always come.

For people who are outside of the community, Couloote explains that they can show up and support the LGBTQ+ community by providing honest and genuine support. He states that a lot of it has to do with believing in what you’re saying and how people can be performative and not genuine.

“We prefer people who are genuine and not performative,” Couloote said. “Because when you’re performative it leads to a lot of issues and it’s not helpful to anybody, honestly, but our major thing is to just keep doing what you’re doing and be supportive.” 

Kean PRISM makes itself known by word of mouth and through social media. Couloote states that they usually put flyers around campus about their meetings, and they try to make any tabling event they can, and just overall make sure that they’re mentioned as much as possible.

Couloote wants those who are outside of the LGBTQ+ community to know that whether they are an ally to the community or a part of the community, they are always welcomed and that they are free to come and visit them at their events and general body meetings. He also wants them to know that they are always loved and cared for.

One of Couloote’s goals that he hopes to achieve during his time as Kean PRISM’s president, is to assist in Safe Zone training. Couloote is Safe Zone certified and stated that Vice President of Kean PRISM, Hana Abouhaib, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program Coordinator for Student Affairs, Erin T. Lester, were the ones that administered the training. 

“It was nice,” Couloote began. “It helped confirm a lot of things that I had known. A lot of what Safe Zone Training has to do with is LGBTQ+ education and certain things such as biases, and also obviously respect and boundaries and stuff like that.”

Couloote also mentioned that the training involved conversation and the way of wording things, as well as different sexualities and romantics. He was overall glad that he was able to know this information and how it added to his knowledge.

The biggest takeaway for Couloote during his Safe Zone training was that there is a lot of wording that you have to consider when it comes to talking about people’s preferences and biases.

“I was having a discussion recently about preferences, and the Safe Zone training helps alleviate certain things,” Couloote said. “So like people could have preferences, but it’s also a matter of checking preferences as to why certain people have those preferences. So you’re checking yourself on why you have certain preferences for various things.”

Overall, Couloote agrees with the idea of people on campus taking part in the Safe Zone training, if they have the time. 

Although he believes that it would be difficult to administer something like Safe Zone training in a mandatory way, Couloote believes that people who want to get Safe Zone trained should be Safe Zone trained. 

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