By Chris Weber (’09)
Around the time I applied to business schools, Kenji Yoshino’s memoir Covering had just come out (no pun intended). His assessment of how society denies equal treatment to people who refuse to cover up crucial aspects of their being (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, religious beliefs, disabilities), and what we can do to build a new civil rights paradigm based on the desire for authenticity, were incredibly formative for me. After all, part of my role as the director of development and communications for the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center in San Jose was to help corporations foster safe and inclusive environments for their LGBTQ employees and allies. Finding a business school culture that was open to discussing diversity and respecting those who were different was not only essential, but also a priority.
Like many, I chose UCLA Anderson because of the unique collaborative culture that goes beyond working on group projects, organizing (amazing) social events, and winning the Challenge for Charity’s Golden Briefcase. In any environment where you have people from different backgrounds, not everyone will see things the same way, but the cultural norm at Anderson is in appreciating where someone is coming from, understanding where they want to go, and helping them get there both now and in the future. At A-Days, my future classmates embraced not only the unique professional experiences that I brought to our community, but also my openness about my sexuality. Sure, that openness led to some uncomfortable conversations, particularly during my second year with the passage of Proposition 8. My classmates had a lot of questions about what the proposition meant and how it would impact me and my other LGBTQ classmates. It was in those one-on-one interactions where the building blocks for understanding began. On a broader level, the dialogue we started with our Out in the Workplace panel created a better understanding of the challenges LGBTQ individuals face professionally and what people can do to help build a supportive workplace.
Client: You know who I hate?
Me (thinking, “Please don’t say ‘the gays,’ please don’t say ‘the gays’”): No. Who?
Client: Those Westboro Baptist Church people. I follow them on Twitter and write back at their stupid comments, just to piss them off.
Me: That’s great! You know, a few years ago, I attended a conference that was protested by them. I have never heard such vile comments being shouted by kids. It was really sad to see six-year-olds espouse such hate for a people they didn’t know or understand.
Client: Horrible. People should be allowed to live how they want to live.
It was perhaps the greatest reminder that 1) assumptions need to be tested before judgment is passed, 2) allies sometimes come from where you least expect it, and 3) you don’t know who is supporting you unless you are open with who you are and what you believe.
In my current role as an associate director for career advising and corporate outreach, I love supporting all of our students in their pursuits of what they want to do and who they want to be. It was especially gratifying to help our students prepare for the Reaching Out conference, watch them take first and second place in the conference’s case competition, and hear one of our ally attendees say that the conference helped him better understand how he could personally build safer workplace environments for LGBTQ people. That statement is a direct embodiment of the values we have at Anderson and a great example of how we Think in the Next.
As an out student, a former leader of the UCLA Anderson LGBT alumni group, and now as an Anderson staff member, I’ve been incredibly proud of all that our Anderson community has accomplished in terms of building a safe, open and accepting environment for LGBTQ people. But maintaining this special environment takes work and we can’t do it alone. Which is where you come in, dear reader: I hope you’ll join us in building an even better Anderson for both you and the future members of our family.
Explore UCLA Anderson's online portal to LGBTQ community news and stories.
Chris Weber joined the UCLA Anderson Parker Career Management Center in November 2013. In addition to serving as a career advisor, Chris helps strengthen the relationships with potential employers of UCLA Anderson MBAs. Prior to joining UCLA Anderson, Chris was a manager in the human capital practice at Deloitte Consulting, where he specialized in organization design and developing and implementing change management, training, communications and leadership alignment strategies. Chris previously served as the VP of corporate and revenue development at United Way Silicon Valley, as the director of development and communications for the DeFrank Community Center, and as both a corps member and a recruitment director for Teach for America. Chris received a BA degree from Boston University and a MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. An active Anderson alumnus, Chris was the president of the Gay and Lesbian Business Alumni Association from 2009 to 2012.
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