Change on UI admission applications profoundly valuable

To Georgina Dodge, associate vice president and chief diversity officer, and Michael Barron, assistant provost and executive director of admissions, University of Iowa:

Thank you both for lending your voices and leading the charge toward support and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students. It may be simply words on a form to some and completely unnecessary to others, but the opportunity to identify as part of the LGBTQ community on admissions applications will be profoundly valuable to those who will feel, live and benefit positively as a result of seeing a checkbox that says “you are welcomed as you are.”

Several decades of progress have passed since I filled out a college application, but as I imagine the option available to my 18-year-old self, I believe it would have helped me shed, far more quickly the weight of disguise that often hindered the actualization of my hopes and dreams for my future.

Silence around this issue causes uncertainty at best and instills fear of disdain, harm or rejection at its worst.

Deb Tiemens

Iowa City