Dear Alumnus, Alumna, Staff, or Faculty Member,
You are reading this because you have evidenced some interest in the Mentoring Program sponsored by the LBGT Issues Group at MIT, and we thank you for that interest. As you think about whether you will participate in the program, we think there are some things you might like to consider.
The Program is designed to benefit primarily current MIT undergraduates who are lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, or questioning. Its purpose is to connect those students with alums who can provide some insight on what it's like to be lbgt in the outside world. We plan to give the forms completed by alumnae/i to students here who express interest and leave it to the student to initiate contact with one (or a few) alums who might be helpful. Some alums who participate may be contacted by several students, and some by none. It will probably depend on whether the students reviewing the sheets detect some common ground with a particular alum or not. If you would feel comfortable discussing with a student who called your religious faith, family experiences, same sex relationships, and other personal history, it might help to mention that on your form, so that students will know what to expect. Some student-alum pairs may develop an on-going relationship and talk or exchange email over a period of months or years. Some students may, on the other hand, want to ask just one or two questions and leave it at that. You also may say whether you are willing to meet in person with a student or would prefer just telephone calls (and some email, but email is too impersonal to be the only mode of communication between you -- so if the student initially emails you, please follow up with a call). In most cases, we anticipate that this connection will be very valuable for the students.
We hope it will be rewarding for you too. Do keep in mind, though, that this is not a social or dating program. We hope that the benefit to you will be the good feeling you get from mentoring undergraduates who may be quite anxious about the future after MIT.
You may be wondering what will happen to the form we've asked you to complete when you submit it. We will keep the information in a database maintained in the Residential Life and Student Life Programs office. We will give copies of the forms of participating alumnae/i only to current MIT students. (You should consider, however, that we'll have no way of knowing whether a student requesting the list genuinely intends to participate or has other, even nefarious, intentions.) We will also check with the MIT Alumni/ae Affairs Office to make sure you are an alum and give them your current address. Otherwise, we will not release this information.
Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Carol Orme-Johnson
Assistant Dean
for the LBGT Issues Group