BY HANNAH BROADBENT | News Editor | The Statesman
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015 Angie Nichols, the director of the Gay Lesbian Bisxual Transgender (GLBT) Services Office resigned from her position.
The next day she was officially gone from her post.
Upon resigning Nichols went into the Queer and Allied Student Union (QASU) cube in the Multicultural Center to say goodbye to the QASU Executive Board (E-Board).
“She told us to stand up and say what we believe in -- even if people try to silence us,” the office coordinator for the QASU Mia Arbudzinski said.
Nichols started the GLBT Services Office and served as director for 15 years. She was an academic advisor, as well as a student and faculty GLBT advocate.
“She told us she loved us and cares about our group...but it just wasn’t a safe environment for her anymore,” the QASU chairperson Jaym Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald worked with Nichols last year as the financial coordinator for the QASU and said they noticed some stress in Nichols. Fitzgerald said the stress kept building. They can pin-point when the stress began to the start of the UMD women’s hockey issues; namely, the Shannon Miller case.
The four members of the QASU E- Board all unanimously agree that Shannon Miller, former UMD women’s basketball coach Annette Wiles and former UMD softball coach Jennifer Banford’s case have a part in Nichols’ resignation.
“Having her gone for one day, you realize how much you relied on her,” the program coordinator for the QASU Jasper Criss said. “Even just yesterday I found myself auto-piloting to her office twice just trying to get her advice or help with something.”
The other three board members echoed agreement to doing the same thing.
“I am definitely not comfortable anymore,” the publicity coordinator for the QASU Nova Miller said.
“I was relatively comfortable. Now, after the Shannon Miller thing it was like ‘this is an uncomfortable situation,’ and now Angie is gone,’” Miller said. “It’s definitely not as safe of a place as I thought it was.”
Fitzgerald spoke for the board and said they encourage other students, especially queer students, on campus that are feeling unsupported from this news to network within the QASU.
"Having her gone for one day, you realize how much you relied on her,"the program director for QASU Jasper Criss said.
Arbudzinski said a priority of the board is to make sure that things feel like they’re going exactly the way they would be if Nichols was still at UMD.
“We’re not going to cancel events or meetings,” Arbudzinski said. “We’re going to be open to any queer students that need us.”
Fitzgerald also said that a priority of theirs is to find out who instigated the conflict.
“We want to know which people specifically made UMD an unsafe workplace,” Fitzgerald said. “We think those specific people should be held accountable for the consequences that follow Angie being forced out.”
One positive has occurred for the board though. They already have a new advisor in replace of Nichols, Erin Olson.
Olson works in the Office for Students in Transition as the operations systems assistant and graduate Minnesota coordinator.
Olson had nothing to say when asked to comment about Nichols and QASU.
However, the position of the director of GLBT services is yet to be filled. There will be a search to fill the position. It is unknown when that search will begin.
The QASU will have an opportunity to be on the search committee.
Jaym Fitzgerald, Nova Miller, Jasper Criss and Mia Arbudzinski all individually support Angie Nichols and the three coaches.
“Angie would absolutely speak out on our behalf,” Criss said. “As students it is our responsibility to use what power we do have to support her and any other queer-identified student or staff on campus."