Safe Zone Program

The Safe Zone program is designed to improve visibility and support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students and employees.

While other minority individuals can often identify role models and mentors, the invisibility of sexual orientation makes it very difficult for GLBT members of the IUP community to ascertain where they can safely turn for support and information.

The Safe Zone program provides easily recognizable individuals who are available to provide these resources. The Safe Zone symbol is a message to GLBT students and colleagues that an employee has participated in the Safe Zone training and is committed to increasing their knowledge of and sensitivity to GLBT issues. The symbol allows the campus community to identify program members and know that they can speak freely with these individuals about issues, including sexual orientation and gender identity, which may affect their academic success or job satisfaction.

Safe Zone members are able to provide assistance, as needed, including referrals. Since the Safe Zone program also strives to improve the campus climate for GLBT individuals, the symbol also means that Safe Zone members will challenge homophobic and heterosexist comments or behaviors in an educational and informative manner.

Download (pdf) the Safe Zone “I Support” sign now to display as appropriate.

Safe Zone Orientation/Training:

Safe Zone signs around campus signify that one has gone through the orientation. The committee is excited to host orientation/training for new members, which is a hybrid of both online and in-person training. Please note that the online portion must be completed prior to registering for any in-person session. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no in-person sessions are scheduled at this time. To begin future training sessions, however, please access the online training and registration.

For further information about the Safe Zone, please contact safe-zone-info@iup.edu.