Rylan Wall Oral History Interview, 2015

Partial Transcript: Ok, let's go ahead and get started. So Rylan, tell me a little bit about yourself. For example, how long you've been in Corvallis and at OSU, identities that are relevant to you, your academic track, or anything else that's important or salient to you.

Segment Synopsis: Rylan gives a brief overview of his current status at OSU, and describes a number of categories with which he identifies.

Keywords: Center for Civic Engagement; College Student Services Administration Program; Oregon State Pride Center; bisexual; cisgender man; queer; young adult student

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Rylan: Uh, was there--should I talk about positions yet?
Kiah: Um, totally! That's my next question but if you want to dive into that one, it's totally good.

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes his career trajectory at Oregon State, working for Rainbow Continuum, the OSU Pride Center, and other on-campus positions.

Keywords: Intercultural Student Services; OSU Pride Center; Rainbow Continuum; queer international students; study abroad

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student participation in administration; Students, Foreign; college students

Partial Transcript: Um, how would you describe the leadership in Rainbow Continuum in the year--academic year 2010 to 2011 when you were the co-director?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes the demographics of the Rainbow Continuum Leadership roles in 2010 and 2011, explaining that it was male-dominated at that time and how that impacted biases in planning and meeting attendance.

Keywords: Rainbow Continuum; co-director; gender bias; gender inequality; intersecting identities; leadership; queer inclusivity

Subjects: College student development programs; Gay pride celebrations; LGBT History Month; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Thank you. Um, would you mind, if you can remember, listing off the roles of the leadership team? Like what the actual positions were and maybe like a brief description of them?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes the six Rainbow Continuum Roles held in the 2010-2011 academic year and their respective responsibilities.

Keywords: OSU drag show; Pride Week; Pride planning; Rainbow Continuum; budget

Subjects: College student development programs; Gay pride celebrations; LGBT History Month; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Um, did your adviser that year, Nina Gasaway [sp] have any impact on how the executive board organized and managed the group?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes the positive impact faculty advisers had on the students of Rainbow Continuum during his time there.

Keywords: Rainbow Continuum; activism at OSU; faculty advisors; male bias; mentorship; queer activism; student affairs

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Um, could you describe for me how a general Rainbow Continuum meeting was like, run and organized, at least during your time there?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan provides a general outline of how meetings were conducted at Rainbow Continuum while he was part of the leadership. He goes on to explain that the meetings usually included an introduction and/or icebreaker, a discussion topic, an activity or game, and a closer.

Keywords: Rainbow Continuum; general meetings; safe space

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Can you talk a little bit about the Pride planning process that year, and highlights from Pride Week in general?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan discusses his experience planning OSU's Pride Week, a series of Pride-related events that takes place annually around the end of April/beginning of May. In the year Rylan describes, there was a very big planning committee, with many on-campus groups represented. Pride Week that year had a groundbreaking number of programs--over 30 events overall.

Keywords: OSU Pride Week; OSU drag show; Powered by Rainbow; Pride Center BBQ; Pride planning

Subjects: College student development programs; Gay Pride Day; Gay pride celebrations; LGBT History Month; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Can you discuss the institutional change of Rainbow Continuum to becoming a voluntary student organization and the significance of that?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes how and why Rainbow Continuum was designated as a voluntary student organization (SSO). Additionally, Rylan and Kiah discuss the matter of student autonomy in leadership more broadly, and why organizations that are separate from the university are necessary for maintaining that autonomy.

Keywords: LGBT student services; Rainbow Continuum; SSO; VSO; intercultural student services; student autonomy; student sponsored organization

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Kiah: Ok, so we're gonna shift from Rainbow Continuum to the Pride Center. Um, can you talk about your experiences as a coordinator for the Pride Center during the academic year 2011/2012?
Rylan: Um, yeah. Was there, um, something more specific?
Kiah: Yeah, um more specifically how did the structure of supervision within Diversity and Development impact your experiences?

Segment Synopsis: When the Coordinator of LGBT Outreach and Services left in the 2011-2012 academic year, the university began the process of hiring a replacement. Rylan explains how this left the Pride Center without direct support from Intercultural Student Services. Instead, three people from different areas of the university had to take on that job.

Keywords: Diversity and Development; Intercultural Student Services; LGBT Outreach and Services; Pride Center; policy; university structure

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: During the academic year of 2012/2013, when you were in your second year of being a coordinator, how did the appointment of a new LGBTQ Outreach and Services Director impact your experiences?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes Jeff Kenney's appointment to the role of LGBTQ Outreach and Services Director, and the high level of support and excellence Jeff brought to the position.

Keywords: OSU Pride Center; leadership; mentoring

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Would you mind speaking a little bit about important budget management strategies or changes during your two years as the internal coordinator at the Pride Center?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan discusses challenges the Pride Center had with budget, and how he attempted to combat those challenges in his role as internal coordinator.

Keywords: OSU Pride Center; budget; funding

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Rylan, can you talk about the graduate teaching position and the significance of that?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes how the OSU Pride center built a graduate teaching assistantship into the budget to be on par with the other cultural resource centers. He also explains the long, complicated process of getting a budget change like this approved by the university.

Keywords: CRC; OSU Pride Center; budget; cultural resource centers

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: Could you please describe the staff structure at the Pride Center during your two years there?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan talks about the hiring process at the OSU Pride Center and what positions were added or altered during his time there.

Keywords: OSU Pride Center; diversity; graphic design; hiring process; publications; staffing; student staff

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: What are some important events the Pride Center organized or collaborated on during the two years you were an internal coordinator there? Maybe just some highlights or really significant events.

Segment Synopsis: Rylan remembers some of the events the OSU Pride Center collaborated on while he worked at the center. Additionally, Rylan spends a while discussing the center's attempts to make their events and programming more diverse, intersectional, and inclusive.

Keywords: CRC; Expressions of Love; OSU Pride Center; collaboration; community outreach coordinator; cultural resource centers; events; intersectionality; visibility

Subjects: College student development programs; Minority college students--United States; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: And then I guess the next question is how would you, in your own words, describe the job of the internal coordinator?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes the responsibilities of the internal coordinator position, including leadership, budget, and space allocation. He also makes a distinction between leadership and management in describing the role.

Keywords: OSU Pride Center; budget; internal coordinator; leadership; management

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: So, from your perspective, what is the significance of the Pride Center, both as a theoretical space and as a physical space?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes the ways in which a pride center occupies a much-needed space, both theoretically and physically, that gives students on campus a sense of support and safety at OSU.

Keywords: OSU Pride Center; institutional support; queer community; safe space; visibility

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: And then could you also speak to the significance of Rainbow Continuum, um, both as a theoretical space and as a physical space--like where the group actually meets?

Segment Synopsis: Rylan describes the contributions Rainbow Continuum makes as a community space and as a starting point for student activism.

Keywords: Rainbow Continuum; programming; queer community; queer spaces; safe space; student activism

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: And then can you please just--as if, maybe, you're explaining what the Pride Center provides, like what resources does the Pride Center provide to the community--like an example would be the library.

Segment Synopsis: Rylan goes more in depth about what resources and support the OSU Pride Center provides to the OSU community, from tangible things like the library and student computers, to less concrete things like support from staff.

Keywords: OSU Pride Center; access; campus resources; programming; queer resources; student support

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Student participation in administration; college students

Partial Transcript: And then, the last question is--are there any experiences you had not in a leadership role but as a member of the LGBTQ community that were important?

Keywords: OSU; Oregon State University; ally; coming out; discrimination; identity development; personal experience; prejudice

Subjects: College student development programs; Oregon State University; Oregon, Western; Sexual minorities; Sexual minority community; Student activism; Student movements; Student participation in administration; college students