HRC's HBCU summit prioritizes students from states with 'unjust' anti-DEI laws

One of the nation’s most powerful LGBT advocacy groups also appears to be advancing an intersectional coalition with its latest event for black college students.

From Nov. 9-13, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Leadership Summit for “LGBTQ+ HBCU students” in Washington, D.C., where 32 students were said to have attended.

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According to HRC’s website, the event “provides a leadership development and advocacy training program that empowers LGBTQ+ HBCU students to act as change-agents on their campuses and in their communities while leading resourcefully through the intersections of race, religion, gender identity, class, and sexual orientation.”

The summit is designed to create “a transformative experience and build a collective of HBCU LGBTQ+ student activists dedicated to equity, inclusion and justice on their respective campuses and in the community.”

“So many of our students come from places where they can’t be themselves,” HRC HBCU Director Leslie Hall told The Advocate. “[T]hey really have never been in a space that supports and includes them.”

“We’ve seen the Leadership Summit evolve over the last twenty years, but the one constant has been the dedicated students and their unified desire to push for change,” he also stated.

In December, Hall told The Georgia Voice that the summit attempted to get students from states that have “introduced or passed oppressive anti-LGBTQ and anti-DEI laws.”

“It is crucial that students from these priority areas have the opportunity to participate in the leadership summit and acquire the essential skills needed to combat these unjust laws,” Hall said. “By empowering them to build a culture of inclusion and safety on their campuses, we strengthen our collective fight for equality and justice.”

Hall also noted that HRC’s “declaration of a national state of emergency for LGBTQ people” last year influenced the summit’s requirement of a capstone project for all attendees. 

“This requirement entails the development of a campus event or policy that focuses on promoting LGBTQ inclusion,” Hall said to The Georgia Voice. “This initiative serves as a culmination of their leadership journey, allowing them to apply their newfound knowledge and skills toward creating tangible change within their campus communities.” 

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Campus Reform has previously reported on HRC’s efforts in higher education. In December 2020, the group issued policy proposals for President-elect Biden, including denying accreditation to religious colleges that did not have “nondiscrimination policies and science-based curricula.”

Campus Reform contacted the Human Rights Campaign for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.