Andrea Merrill (The Beacon)
By Andrea Merrill, Guest Commentary
You do not know me, but I am a University of Portland student. My name is Andrea Merrill and I am a junior sociology major. I grew up in Bellingham, Wash. with a loving mom, dad and younger sister. During my childhood, I had a dog named Penny and two cats named Ms. Frizzle and Dusty Bones. I played soccer all the way through freshman year of high school and graduated high school in the top ten percent of my class. I also have a mild obsession with coffee, and like many, I probably spend too much time watching Netflix. As whole, I identify as queer.
So what? Well, I wanted to show that I'm not simply my sexual orientation. I am a student, an activist, an animal lover, a nerd, a coffee enthusiast, and queer.
I realize that the University of Portland is a Catholic institution and I honestly respect someone's beliefs. Through the several theology classes that I've taken at UP, I have come to discover a deep respect for religion that I did not have before.
I also realize that I chose to go to UP three years ago and that I still choose to go today. And to be honest, after switching majors last spring, I had to spend some time convincing my parents to let me stay at UP instead of transferring to a less expensive school. I did this because I really do love the UP community and I really love Portland. I love how successful the soccer team is and how beautiful the campus can be during a sunny day. I love the opportunities I have had since coming to this school and I cannot wait to go on many more adventures in the future.
Now, I want to speak on the words Fr. Beauchamp said at the Fireside Chat on Monday and the atmosphere that currently exists on campus. Because of my involvement and identity, I have come to feel less and less safe on campus. I'm afraid that I might say the wrong thing in class or that I might act in a way that might warrant suspicion in my fellow students and in faculty and staff members. In the past three weeks, I have honestly come home several times and sobbed because I have felt invalidated as a human being because of something that happened on campus. I no longer feel comfortable being open with my identity on campus.
Everyone has the right to believe that acting on a homosexual identity is wrong, but no one has the right to make me or anyone else feel invalidated as a human being. The UP campus needs to start having REAL discussions about this issue. We need to start understanding each other and hearing others' stories in a safe and honest way.
I'm tired of trying to defend myself and of hearing my friends' stories of the same issues. I'm tired of explaining who I am and trying to validate just one part of my identity every single day on campus. Real change needs to happen at the University of Portland, and it is not going to start unless we begin to talk.
Andrea Merrill is a junior sociology major. She can be reached at merrill14@up.edu.
