Overview
The staff of lbgt@MIT in Residential Life and Student Life Programs provides overall coordination to MIT's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender student support services and programs. We collaborate with a variety of offices and groups and provide staff support to the LBGT Issues Group.

Additional funding enabled increased support of student groups and improved programming and services through the hiring of Wendy Beauchamp, a Master's student at Simmons College, as a 20 hours per week graduate assistant. MIT became a member of the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources and is awaiting the publication of the CAS Standards for LGBT Programs and Services on college campuses.

Programs and Services
lbgt@MIT seeks to support LBGT students in three primary areas Resources and Support Services, Programs and Events, and Campus Group Advising.

A logo was designed for use by all LBGT groups to unify the varied efforts on campus. The "You are Welcome Here" Campaign was launched, through which at least 500 signs were hung by faculty and staff to demonstrate their commitment to supporting MIT's LBGT community. A monthly e-mail newsletter, which includes upcoming events and educational topics, was begun in January with an initial circulation of over 500. New material in this year's Lavender Guide focused on improving coverage of lesbian and transgender resources. Distribution of the Guide doubled to nearly 1500, in addition to 556 plus visits to our website.

New this year were an event during Campus Preview Weekend and "Living Pink," a guide to LBGT friendly living groups to assist incoming first-year students in making their choice of residences. Events for Coming Out Week in October and ToBGLAD in March continued to be well attended. The Boston Colony of Delta Lambda Phi, a national social fraternity for gay, bisexual, and progressive men, was founded this year.

MIT Community and Campus Climate
Overall, there is a sense that the MIT campus climate continues to improve, represented by the presence of "You are Welcome Here" signs. At the same time the need for improvement continues to be made evident; campus incidents are reported, and LBGT students appear to face higher levels of stress. This year a vicious hate mail was sent to an openly gay student; the Committee on Discipline took serious action in response.

Financial Report
This year's efforts were made possible through the financial support of John Kellett '47 with additional assistance from the Health Education Service of MIT Medical, Dean for Student Life Margaret Bates, Orientation 1999, Counseling and Support Services, and the Publishing Services Bureau.

Looking Ahead
As a long term goal, we are seeking to create a visible, central, and welcoming space that can be the anchor of MIT's diverse efforts to support its LBGT community. For this upcoming year, in addition to continued development and maintenance of current programs, we plan to focus on

1. Identifying future sources of funding.
2. Seeking greater coordination of information regarding LBGT students and incidents.
3. Reaching beyond our current allies.