Heterosexual students, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, are more than welcome to talk to Margie Cook, LGBT program coordinator, about any issues that they might have.

Cook’s job was created three years ago, and she has held the position for all three.

“The position was created from instances of anti-gay harassment that occurred in the late 1980s,” Cook said. “LGBT students went to the president of the university and requested that the university take steps to make the campus more welcoming. A task force was created to investigate discrimination on campus. They did research for two years and made a report that identified the problems that existed. There were 42 recommendation steps that were created on how the university could make the campus more welcoming.”

Two major steps on that list stood out of the 42.

“One important step was to create a resource office where LGBT students could talk about LGBT-related topics,” Cook said. “Another important step was to hire a full-time staff person to work on LGBT issues.”

The university didn’t act immediately, but an ongoing Presidential Committee on Sexual Orientation was created, and through this committee, the LGBT program coordinator position was created.

“I started out part-time in 1998, and the demand was high enough that the next year the position increased to full-time,” Cook said.

She has many duties as program coordinator.

“I’m the faculty adviser for Prism, which involves setting up programs and bringing in speakers,” Cook said. “I coordinate the Safe Zone program, which allows LGBT students to talk to identified faculty, staff and graduate students about their sexual orientation. I’m also asked to speak in classes about aspects of LGBT issues that relate to certain areas of study.”

Chris Rudis, co-president of Prism, believes that Cook is a person who is driven to excellence.

“She is committed to making NIU and DeKalb a better place,” he said.

Cook also responds to requests about any information that people need and to students who are working on projects about LGBT topics.

“I believe that my position makes an impact on students in two ways,” Cook said. “For LGBT students, my position is a central person that they can go to for LGBT issues and a support service. Another way I impact students is because I talk to heterosexual students, I help them learn more about LGBT topics and give them a more realistic picture of the issues.”

Heterosexual students often come to Cook to talk about a relationship with a friend or a sibling who is gay.

“A lot of people are affected by LGBT issues because they know someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” Cook said.