It Gets Better at URI:
Coming Out for Change

Seen by over 2000 people at local events
Aired on RI PBS 32 times
Viewed on YouTube over 1200 times

Watch It Now!

NOTE:  There is a 35 second silent intro to the film.  The actual film starts at 39 seconds. Enjoy!

It Gets Better at URI: Coming Out for Change is a documentary created by the URI LBTQ Women’s Group, as part of the nationally recognized “It Gets Better” campaign to prevent suicide by instilling hope in youth struggling with their sexual and gender identities. The film features URI students, faculty, staff and administrators sharing their stories about struggle, triumph and change in order to inspire the LGBTQ community to think positively about the future. It also reveals the important role allies play in making URI a welcoming and safe environment. This film allowed students to identify supportive faculty, staff and alumni on campus and show how all of us can play a part in making it better.

The film debuted as a part of URI’s Diversity Week on October 5, 2011 to an audience of over 900 people.  It later aired on RI PBS and has been shown widely across campus.  All URI athletes, coaches and staff have been mandated to attend viewings of the films and we’ve heard overwhelmingly positive responses from them and others.  It has also been presented by members of the group at a conference for future educators held at Rhode Island College in November, 2011 and again in March, 2012 at the “The Journey Out” production hosted by the URI Feinstein Campus in Providence.  Most recently the film was shown during the 2015 URI Diversity Week to a crowd of over 600 and included a panel presentation by students who were featured in the film, the Director of the Gender & Sexuality Center and the URI Athletic Director.   It has also been viewed on URI’s YouTube Channel over 800 times.

Because of the positive effects of the video, the group was nominated for the 2012 Robert Rainville Student Leadership Award and won the 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award and the 2012 Diversity Awards!

If you would like a copy of the DVD or to schedule a showing, please contact Holly Nichols at hjnichols@uri.edu or 401-874-2288.

Links to Articles:

• URI Quad Angles: President’s Message: A Simple Message of Hope
• URI Quad Angles: Coming out for Change
• URI News: RI PBS to air “It Gets Better at URI: Coming Out for Change,” April 14

The LBTQ Women’s Group would like to thank all of our sponsors for your generous support and encouragement!

Counseling Center
Athletics
Career Services
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Human Science and Service
College of Nursing
College of Pharmacy
Communication and Marketing
Communication Studies
Heather Fund
History Department
Multicultural Center
President’s Office
Student Affairs Divesity Fund
Women’s Studies
Writing and Rhetoric
University College