University of Alabama: “Gay Student Union” Celebrated
Via Adam Jones of the Tuscaloosa News:
A fraction of the collection on display at the Hoole Library chronicles the first year of the group, then called the Gay Student Union. The Student Government Association only recognized the group as an official student organization in the fall of 1983 after administrators were told the American Civil Liberties Union would likely take legal action if they didn’t, Miller said.
The group had met all the requirements to be recognized, and it was made clear in an article in The Crimson White at the time that the university was not condoning the group’s activities by approving it, Miller said.
At the time, only 10 students — the minimum needed to form an organization — were bold enough to sign up, but Miller said up to 50 students met off campus during organizational meetings.
In 1988, professor Annabel Stephens became faculty advisor, serving until 1996. She saw the transformation of the group from a hidden, word-of-mouth organization to a visible social club.