After graduating from Harvard University, Devon Dickau found himself retreating from who he really was, hiding his engagement ring and watching his language in fear that his identity would be discovered.
At the consulting firm where Dickau worked, his manager made it clear that he was uncomfortable with homosexuality.
“It was exhausting, not bringing my full self to work. You don’t live to your full potential,” said Dickau, who identifies as queer. “That was an unfortunate experience and a realization that there’s more work to be done (in the queer community).”
His experience working for the consulting firm encouraged Dickau to help change the professional environment by educating his classmates about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Dickau found his outlet through OUT@Anderson. OUT@Anderson is a graduate student group that hosts social events and provides students with resources and opportunities for networking with recruiters. The group, which was started several years ago, also educates students about how to be allies for the LGBT community both on campus and in their professional lives.
OUT@Anderson recently launched a new website to improve LGBT student outreach, established its first-ever LGBTQ Awareness Week in April and hosted events for the first time for admitted students who declared their LGBT status in their applications.
For the first time, the School of Management added an optional question on the application asking if students identified as LGBT, after members of OUT@Anderson advocated for the option, said Craig Hubbell, director of operations for MBA admissions for the School of Management.
Dickau, who is co-president of OUT@Anderson, said he thinks the corporate world is not typically viewed as a place for the LGBT community to succeed, and he wants to be an example and change that perception.
Only about 3.6 percent of full-time students self-identify as LGBTQ in the School of Management, according to Reaching Out MBA, a national nonprofit organization for LGBT business students.
Seventeen states prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and 53 percent of LGBT professionals say they hide their identity in the workplace, according to a study by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Dickau said his feelings of discomfort during his time working at the consulting firm were not the first he had encountered. After his fourth year at UCLA, Dickau flew across the world to do the nonprofit work he loves, educating children and community leaders in Tanzania about HIV and AIDS. Despite finding purpose in the work, he said he felt increasingly exhausted in a country that openly denied the existence of homosexuality.
“I found myself waking up in the middle of the night to make personal phone calls and limiting certain language and expressions,” he said. “I wasn’t fully myself in Tanzania, and my performance as a community organizer and my happiness as an individual suffered because of my need to stay in the closet.”
This year, OUT@Anderson has focused on leading educational campaigns to inform students about how they can make their workplace and environment welcoming for LGBT students and co-workers.
Dickau said the School of Management has gained national attention in MBA publications this year from hosting more events such as “Ask a Gay,” a question-and-answer panel that has received positive support.
Kelsey Ziegler, co-vice president of education and ally relations for Out@Anderson, said she thinks the group has helped some students feel more comfortable with being active allies on campus.
“(It’s rewarding) whenever someone finally feels comfortable enough to ask a question,” she said. “Maybe students don’t know what to ask or what’s appropriate, so any time someone comes to us and says thank you for that opportunity, that’s a huge breakthrough.”
OUT@Anderson has reached out to students who said they identify as LGBT on their applications, inviting them to events and socials focused on LGBT students before they make their admissions decision, Ziegler said.
Dickau, his current co-president and the incoming presidents aim to help admitted students form relationships with OUT@Anderson to encourage them to view the School of Management as an inclusive, safe place.
“Our goal will be accomplished if every student graduates from Anderson with the knowledge to create a safe space for LGBTQ people and for anyone to be out,” Dickau said.