Professional Allies: The Storying of Allies to LGBTQ Students on a College Campus

This article details the narratives of faculty and staff involved in a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) ally organization at a large southeastern state university. We illustrate how interview participants diverged from organizational literature on how to be an ally by offering a different narrative, one of professional responsibility to a diverse student body. We expound upon how this notion of professional responsibility differs from most models for understanding ally development and action. We suggest that from an organizational standpoint, these professional ally self-concepts make sense and should be taken into account when building ally organizations in educational settings.