n alumni are putting together an LGBTQA alumni group that will have its first meeting on Saturday this weekend.

Rick Ingram, an Eastern alum, said alumni from Chicago decided to try to start the group to benefit current alums and students.

“Over the last few years, while we’ve been trying to put this together, there have been various incidents happening on college campuses,” he said.

He described a situation he had heard about a college student that committed suicide after his roommate videotaped his activities.

“There are a variety of challenges that are faced by these students, and we as alumni want to figure out if there’s a way that we can help students make their way through EIU and through the world with some assistance,” he said.

Ingram said the group has many long-term goals, including endowing and setting up a scholarship fund focused on LGBTQA and allies.

“We’d also like to provide some social and professional networking activities for alums and undergrads,” he said. “We hope that we can support we can support EIU’s Pride group and provide mentoring in that area as well.”

He said eventually he hopes the group will be able to help facilitate community dialogue between the Eastern Pride group and the Charleston community.

“There’s also some legislative activity that we might be able to get into on behalf of EIU and LGBTA folks,” he said. “Those are all long-term goals, but we’re just starting out.”

Another goal of the Saturday meeting is to reach out to current students.

“We really want to reach out to Eastern’s current students because they are the future alumni,” he said. “We want to welcome them and help integrate them into our program.”

He said having current students involved in the organization will help the group realize what issues need to be addressed on campus because they are the ones currently witnessing the atmosphere.

“They can tell us what they need and give us the feedback we need to help them,” he said.

Ingram said the meeting will also help him assess the amount of interest there is in the group and help get people interested in a more formal setting.

He met with President Bill Perry about a year ago and solicited the president’s help on this endeavor.

“(Perry) has been very supportive on this manner, along with the rest of the administration,” he said.

Ingram said he hopes the meeting will help the committee find more people who are interested in working on the alumni association and the goals they have identified.

“We want to reach a critical mass of LGBTQA and allied folks who want to get this organization up and running so we can really start organizing and working on these issues,” he said.

The group will meet at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Room 1418 of Klehm Hall.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.