 Upon her arrival at MSU she was closeted publicly as a lesbian, and by her leave in 1977, to move to San Francisco, she was open to her colleagues.Upon moving to San Francisco, Cruikshank worked as resource director for the short-lived Gay National Educational Switchboard; an organization that provided information through a toll-free telephone number.In August 1980 she became head of a small program of the Continuing Education department at the University of San Francisco.