Robert Alberts focuses on educating and presenting about LGBTQIA issues while coordinating undergraduate help
Rachel Arehart
Antelope Staff
Robert Alberts, source for this story, identifies as queer and prefers the pronoun “they” rather than “he” or “him.”
Robert Alberts brings new advocacy to the Women’s Center
They are the first campus employee to advocate and present information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersex and asexual issues at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Alberts, a Women’s Center graduate intern, focuses on LGBTQIA issues and coordinating undergraduate volunteers and interns.
LGBTQIA issues include bullying, sexual assault and violence, discrimination and education about new gender identities and sexual orientations.
“I really want to develop more comprehensive LGBTQIA resources and a support system,” Alberts said. “Our campus doesn’t have too much for those students, and I think that we really need to start engaging the discussion around those areas.”
They said a goal is to have more undergraduate students come and spend time in the Women’s Center. “I would really love for them to be able to engage in the staff there and really utilize the space,” Alberts said.
Alberts aims to have more students working in the office so that the center can sustain itself and keep itself running because they say there is not enough staff to really do what should be done on this campus. Three staff members in the Women’s Center: Kiphany Hof, the Associate Director of UNK Counseling and graduate assistant Bailey Bond work with Alberts in the Women’s Center.
“This is the very first year that the Women’s Center has tried to advocate for more of the LGBT community,” Hof said. Besides the Queer Straight Alliance student organization, there has been no other effort by the school to promote tolerance and education about different genders and sexualities.
Alberts said they’re passionate about the issues they promote, and it’s an area they are especially knowledgeable in. They developed and hosted LGBT 101 that informed students about the issues and focused on educating students about LGBQTIA issues and how they can and should be addressed on campuses.
Alberts is very knowledgeable about the LGBQTIA community, especially on college campuses. Other than working on these issues at the UNK Women’s Center, Alberts is the Campus Relations Coordinator at the Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. They also worked at Illinois State University as a conference director for the Midwest Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Ally College from 2012 to 2015.
Alberts obtained a bachelor’s in social work and continues to use that foundation in work today. “I really love advocating for people, building community, creating interventions, and helping people achieve their fullest potential. Those are the reasons why I went into social work,” Alberts said “The Women’s Center instills that same passion and fire that I have and allows me to create the space for students to get some of the opportunities that I’ve gotten.”
“Robert is very passionate about advocating for the LGBT community. Robert is very knowledgeable in this area, and enthusiasm to inspire change is contagious,” Hof said.
Alberts said a solid foundational understanding for program development and design can help them “create things that can help improve our campus and can be used long after I am gone.”
Hof said the Women’s Center hopes to continue the programming and education that Alberts has started to ensure that students of all genders and sexual identities feel safe on campus.
Alberts will be spending the remainder of this school year working as an intern at the Women’s Center, and then will graduate with their master’s in student affairs. After graduation, they hope to move into a full-time position at a college or university.