The Nicholls State Gay/Straight Alliance is looking for students or faculty who are interested in participating in their organization.The NSU GSA is raising awareness about their organization through a website, E-mails, a Yahoo group and fliers.

“We are waiting until we can get a large amount of people interested,” Erik Jordan, freshman from Connecticut and co-organizer of the NSU GSA, said. “We have enough people to start the organization, but we are still waiting on people who are contemplating whether or not to join the group.”

A minimum of 10 people is necessary to form an officially recognized organization. According to Jordan, the NSU GSA will hold an interest meeting when they receive around 20 potential members.

Jordan, who has previously organized four Gay Straight Associations during high school and college, said the NSU GSA will focus on many issues concerning the Nicholls community.

“I hear a lot of hate-related comments regarding gays, lesbians and even people of a different skin color or religion,” Joe Wallace, freshman from New Orleans and co-organizer of NSU GSA, said.

The NSU GSA will be using the spring semester to get organized and plan for the future. “Obviously this is a very controversial area, so we have to be careful with what we do,” Wallace said.

“Our goals for the beginning of the semester are very simple,” Jordan said. “The focus is just to work on the campus.”

The structure and purpose of the NSU GSA will be based largely on the results of a 10-question E-mail survey sent out to all interested persons.

“It is going to be a support group in way, but it will also be a lot about what we can do to open people’s horizons,” Jordan said.

NSU GSA will be open to students and faculty of any sexual preference.

“We want people to understand this is not just a gay, lesbian, bisexual organization,” Wallace said. “It is a gay/straight alliance, so people who join do not necessarily have to be out or even gay. It is an organization for us to come together.”

“We are not going to point out if anyone is gay,” Jordan said. “We do not care if you are gay. If you have an interest in the group, that is all that matters.”

The organizers of NSU GSA have set up several ways for those interested to get in contact with them anonymously.

Anyone interested in participating in the NSU GSA can contact them by E-mail at [email protected], through their website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gsansu or on their message board at http://groups.yahoo.com/group.gsansu.