The newest addition to the campus resources available to USC students is the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs' LGBT Peer Mentoring program.
The program is geared toward first-year and transfer students identifying with the LGBTQ community, and it will serve as a friendly aid in the transition into a new college environment. Students registered for the program will be paired with LGBT peer advocates who will help guide the new students through adjustments to campus life by sharing their own experiences.
Peer advocates are current students, both undergraduate and graduate, "who serve as representatives and ambassadors for the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs [and] play an integral role in shaping the culture of the University of South Carolina by educating their peers to be more inclusive and supportive of LGBTQ and ally students," according to their website.
Those peer advocates who involve themselves in the new program will dedicate their time to ensuring that LGBTQ students feel as safe and comfortable on campus as any other student. Their duties outside of the peer mentoring program include giving presentations in University 101 courses, leading small group discussions about LGBTQ issues and identities, representing OMSA at different events and more.
According to the online announcement of the new program, "there will be opportunities to meet other first-year students who identify on the LGBTQ spectrum through socials with mentees and mentors as well as events that will help students adjust to their new academic and social atmosphere."
Current students are able to register for the program through OMSA's web page and will be contacted by an OMSA officer soon after.
After a gunman shot and killed 49 patrons at an Orlando nightclub popular in the LGBTQ community, USC President Harris Pastides addressed all students, faculty and staff in response.
"Hatred of any kind is not a value that we, as Americans, can ever accept," Pastides wrote. "At the University of South Carolina, we ask our community of scholars to embrace the Carolinian Creed which, frankly, has never seemed more universal."
The Carolinian Creed, which all students are expected to uphold, makes imperative the discouragement of bigotry and the respect for all people regardless of background or orientation. The new LGBT Peer Mentoring Program has joined a list of programs created specifically to educate, support and help those who are otherwise marginalized.
USC is home to many other programs and initiatives designed to embrace the diverse student body and provide support and resources for those who need it.
OMSA's other support and advocacy services include the Multicultural Assistance Peer Program, the Men of Color Initiative, Quench (Queers + Lunch), the Safe Zone Ally Program and Trans Task Force.