During his first two years at Syracuse University, Louis Lafata noticed that certain schools on campuses, like the School of Architecture and the College of Visual and Performing Arts, were welcoming grounds for students in the LGBT community.

But Lafata, a sophomore civil engineering major who identifies as gay, does not feel the same way about his home college, L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science.

This prompted Lafata to start oSTEM, or ‘Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,’ on campus. This national organization emerged from an IBM sponsored LBGT focus group in Washington, D.C., in October 2005. The program has established chapters in 16 colleges across the country.

The SU chapter is not yet an officially sanctioned group, but the first-ever oSTEM meeting at SU will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. in Room 105 of the Life Sciences Complex.

SU has never had an operating chapter of oSTEM. Current co-presidents Lafata and Joey DiStefano, a sophomore environmental engineering major, hope it will foster a new branch of LGBT community within the school.

DiStefano, who also identifies as gay, and Lafata recruited two other officers for the group: Kim Isaac, a sophomore bioengineering major, and Mike Butterfield, a junior aerospace engineering major. The members aim to make students accept and become aware of a LGBT presence within the engineering community.

‘We just want to provide a community where people can gather and share ideas and knowledge,’ Lafata said. ‘Especially in a workplace environment.’

Lafata and DiStefano share a mutual feelingthat the engineering and scientific community may not be one often associated with individuals open about their identities. Both said they sensed that many students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender do not feel comfortable enough.

Neither student has experienced any particular incidentsregarding their sexuality, but both have felt discrepancies in a field they feel has mostly heterosexual individuals.

When working on projects in groups with a majority of heterosexual students, DiStefano often felt his group members had lowers expectations of him due to his sexual identity, he said.

Both Lafata and DiStefano said they hope the organization will help move their vision forward on campus and promote oSTEM’s values. 

‘It provides an opportunity for some type of gathering within the LGBT community that’s different than more artistic venues,’ Lafata said. ‘This provides a new dimension for this community.’

cedebais@syr.edu

Published on April 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chelsea: cedebais@syr.edu | @CDeBaise124