It’s difficult for college students to navigate receiving health care, and it’s even more difficult for some students depending on their identity. 

I’m Lauren Girgis, this semester’s Collaborations Director for the Diversity and Inclusion Board. I work to edit, create and produce these stories serving to uplift voices that are underrepresented in the media, and I’m interested in having your voice in The Daily Texan. 

The Daily Texan is launching The Waiting Room, a new series that will focus on how an individual’s identity affects the health care they receive and how difficult it can be to receive and understand health care in college. We'd like to include stories about gender, sexuality, race, religion, class, ethnicity and disability and how these identities are treated differently in medicine.

These stories will be produced in partnership with UT chapters of minority journalism organizations — the National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Asian American Journalists Association and The Association of LGBTQ Journalists.

Submissions do not exclusively have to be from these organizations. If you are interested in sharing a story, no prior journalism experience is required, and you are welcome to fill out our pitch form. 

The point of all of these efforts is to better cover the UT community, so we want to hear from you. Tell us what we’re doing right and wrong, and what more you think we can do. Tell us what you think about our efforts and our coverage of UT. Email at [email protected] or fill out the pitch form if you are interested in telling a personal story or writing about other people’s stories.