Anelle Scott
Blake Bonkowski is a queer, trans person who discovered his identity on Oakland University’s campus 11 years ago and has since dedicated his life to advocating for student inclusion at Oakland University.
Bonkowski has been the Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC) coordinator since May 2022. Bonkowski defines his role on campus as an advocate for student inclusion and his role with the members of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance. He states that OU has grown much since he attended and acknowledges the accomplishments that have been made on campus:
“We have an office and a coordinator, OU is ranked the top two schools in the state regarding LGBTQ inclusivity. On paper, we have solid policies, and people have a more positive experience here, but there are always areas where we can improve, such as with faculty being transphobic and not being held accountable.”
Bonkowski has accomplished much for the university’s LGBTQ program and has advocated for students since his employment. He focuses on making changes to keep students safe and protected from any transgressions others may have toward the community. Before his employment, there were all-gender floors for student housing, meaning there was not a place for non-binary or transgander students to have a place to stay on campus where they felt safe.
“I have a master’s degree of knowledge on how universities work, how to get big things done, how we get pronouns to show up on roasters, how to make housing not all gender floors, which is how it was when I was here.”
Although queer rights are exposed and understood in today’s society, there is more hate than ever towards queer people. Bonkowski’s primary goal is that LGBTQ students have a place to be safe on campus when family and friends let them down.
“My pitch is that we need students who need housing into housing,” he said. “I have a student about once a month coming to me saying they have just got kicked out of their house or are about to get kicked out of their house for being queer. One of the most helpful things would be we have empty rooms for housing if we could just put them in there and not have to exchange money so we can have a place for this person to sleep next week. I advocate to having twice as many counselors and better advertising and for faculty to be held responsible for transphobic behavior.”
Oakland University’s strong LGBTQ community on campus stems from the students and the staff within the GSA to get their voices heard. OU has acknowledged the advocacy for human rights and for mental health and has shown through the success of the GSC.
“The LGBTQ community has worked for the last 20 years to build this for ourselves,” Bonkowski said. “We had to fight every step of the way. We had to fight for an office. We had to fight to have a coordinator, we had to fight for a budget that made any sense.”
Bonkowski states that most funding comes from donors from organizations. Without their help, there wouldn’t be as much freedom in holding events and advertising for the program, whose primary goal is to create a safe space for individuals struggling with themselves and their sexuality.
“I got more money from donations from corporations this year from pride month than the whole year from the university for programming.”
The GSC goal is to keep students alive and healthy. This club has students who struggle with mental health or substance abuse, causing more internal work to be done. Bonkowski states that the biggest struggle with his position and within the GSA is keeping students in a healthy mental state.
“The biggest challenge is the fact this is a group of LGBTQ students that before they got to college had no access to the community, and they come here, and they don’t feel good about themselves,” he said. “Mental health challenges are extremely common. Substance abuse is common, but the biggest struggle is just keeping everyone alive. We have had plenty of losses within this community which is the biggest struggle; it does not have much to do with Oakland but more with the world. I aim to ask myself, ‘how do I do my best to keep them alive, safe, and in school?’”
Bonkowski is proud of the effort Oakland University has put into the Gender and Sexuality Alliance but fights every day to ensure students get the most help and exposure they can. The resilience for human rights by staff and students keeps Oakland University a strong leader in inclusivity for campus life.
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