The Thomson Student Health Center invited students to the building on Wednesday for a drop-in reception titled "Welcome Home: Student Health Services Reception for LGBTQ Students & Allies." The event welcomed students to Carolina as well as providing information about resources available to LGBTQ students.
In attendance along with the students were Student Health Center staff such as members of the Counseling and Psychiatry department, and representatives of Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention & Prevention (SAVIP).
Dr. Rebecca Caldwell, Director of Strategic Health Initiatives, was at the reception ready to both inform and care for USC's diverse student community as attendees mingled and enjoyed refreshments.
"The reason that we did [a reception] was that we wanted to create a safe, confidential space for LGBTQ students to be able to know that they could come into Student Health and meet a bunch of the providers," Caldwell said, "that can answer questions; that can help them with specific things like, for instance, let's say someone is transgender and wants to change their name in their electronic medical record."
Caldwell assured that Student Health provides many services to any and all students, such as counseling, medical services, nutrition information and others.
"We just wanted to create an open, welcoming space to be like, 'This is your medical home, too,'" Caldwell said.
The reception was the first of its kind, and Caldwell says that Student Health Services plans to continue doing them.
Many brochures and information cards were organized on a table just past entrance into the building. There was available information of various resources such as Gamecock Health Magazine and descriptions of services for graduate students.
Another staff member in attendance was Dr. Mark Miles, Clinical Director of the Counseling & Psychiatry Department.
"The LGBT community has been under-served and under-serviced by heath care facilities," said Miles. "We need to educate not only the LGBT community about what services are here, but the staff here around interacting [with them]."
"One of the big changes this year on the part of the university is that they got an agreement with the health service ... to be able to provide reimbursement for transgender individuals seeking hormonal treatment," Miles said.
Several students spent time at the reception speaking to staff and learning about the available services at Thomson. One of those students was first-year social work student Mark Pierce.
"I'm transgender ... and basically I'm here to find out what services are provided and how accessible they are for someone in my position," Pierce told The Daily Gamecock.
"I think obviously there's still a ways to go as far as, like, trans health care," Pierce said in regards to the reception, "but for what year it is, and for what exposure there's been to trans people in the media and stuff like that, I think its a good start."