Meet Q-Connect: an online peer mentor program designed to act as a resource for students who may find themselves confused about gender and sexuality issues.

The program, run by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, is set up as a student-to-student chat session. There, students can ask questions and discuss issues with complete anonymity. “We hope that this way will help us reach out to students who aren’t necessarily interested in coming to events or might not want to come to our office,” said center director Margie Cook.

Every Tuesday from 9 to 11 p.m. and Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m., curious students can feel free to log on to Q-Connect and chat one-on-one with a trained peer mentor. Two student mentors will man each shift and be available to discuss any issues and answer any questions related to sexual orientation, gender identity and the LGBT lifestyle.

“We decided to try doing this online to give students a private way of talking about LGBT concerns,” Cook said. “It’s also more convenient for some students in the comfort of their apartment or dorm.”

The program is only available to students during the two weekly shifts. Although there are currently no plans to expand the service, it’s something the staff at the resource center is keeping in mind. Should demand for the service become strong enough, the center would consider expanding the program.

Student worker Elijah Itah, who said he’d had strong connections with face-to-face mentors in the past, was at first unsure of how effective online counseling could be. In time, he said, he came to appreciate the unique place it has in helping students.

“There’s still a place for traditional mentoring, and it’s not meant to replace that,” said Itah, a counseling grad student. “I was initially resistant, but I came to see a larger perspective. It targets a different audience.”

Students are required to use certain personal information, such as their Z-ID, in order to log in to the chat, but the service remains anonymous. Students will be able to select their own screen name for use in Q-Connect, which the only way the peer mentors are able to identify the student.

Personal information will only be recalled and used by resource center staff if an emergency should arise; for example, if a student were to insinuate doing harm to themselves or others.

“If there were an emergency situation, we would hopefully be able intervene in time,” Cook said. “That’s the only time we would ever look. It’s purely for safety purposes.”

Cook said that Q-Connect, and the center as a whole, are available to all students, not just those who identify themselves as LGBT.

“Sometimes, friends and family have questions,” Cook said. “If you have questions, we want to help.”

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.