They hope the task force, consisting of faculty and students, will find that UNC needs an LGBT Resource Center, which has surfaced as a major issue among both the LGBT community and student politicians.
The coalition decided to focus its efforts on gaining the support of student organizations, faculty members and alumni by asking for petitions and letters of support, which will be presented to the chancellor.
"We want to get everyone involved so everyone feels like they are part of the process," said Marcie Fisher, a high-risk program specialist at the Center for Healthy Student Behaviors.
In the next few weeks, the coalition will approach each student group with a petition and a skeleton form letter to the chancellor asking him to set up a task force to study LGBT needs.
"By early April, we want a stack of petitions and a stack of letters to present to the chancellor," said Chantelle Borne, co-chairwoman of the LGBT Resource Center Coalition.
The resource center envisioned by the coalition would provide services such as advising, advocacy, career networking and leadership development to the LGBT community.
It also would offer information and resources to the entire University community about LGBT issues.
"There is currently no administrative or institutional support (for the LGBT community) except for student groups," Borne said.
The coalition has been meeting since September of 2000 to gauge the support its cause would receive across the campus.
