October is LGBTQ+ History Month, which means the LGBTQ+ Resource Center is bringing plenty of opportunities to campus to celebrate, learn, hang out and most importantly, find your people. All are welcome.
You’ve probably passed the Intercultural Collective (IC) in the Schine Student Center and maybe even wondered what goes on inside. Guess what: there’s a lot (IC teams also include Belonging and Student Success, International Services and the Kessler Scholars Program). The LGBTQ+ Resource Center has been a constant place for students to find community, support and they’re celebrating 25 years of it!
“We are a space for students to feel seen and safe,” says LGBTQ+ Resource Center director, Emily Stewart.
Programming is hosted throughout the year, including What’s the Stitch every Friday, where students can knit, crochet or just hang out and decompress. There’s also Gaymer Night, Serving Connections and other events that are designed to give students a chance to meet people and build community.
“So often students come to campus hoping to find friends and community,” says LGBTQ+ Resource Center program coordinator, Jordan McGee. “Our goal is to ensure our programming allows students to find their community whatever that looks like.”
The Center also has some special programming going on for LGBTQ+ History Month. On Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Center is partnering with the Kessler Scholars Program and First-Gen Programming for Mixed Tapes: First-Gen and Queer. Students can make bracelets while talking about first-generation queer experiences.
To close out the month, the Center will host its Eighth Annual Potash Keynote Series, featuring Jordan Potash ’98 on Thursday, Oct. 22. Potash played a major role in the early efforts to create the LGBTQ+ Resource Center. He will join other students to talk about what it was like to be an LGBTQ+ student at Syracuse University then and what that experience looks like today.
In 1997, Potash proposed creating a Rainbow Task Force to address the needs of LGBTQ+ students on campus. A year later, the Syracuse University Senate created an Ad Hoc Committee on LGBTQ+ Issues.
Over the next few years, the committee surveyed students, held focus groups, hosted discussions and looked at how other colleges were supporting their LGBTQ+ communities.
In 2001, the committee recommended that Syracuse University establish an LGBTQ+ Resource Center and make the committee permanent. The approval was unanimous. 750 Ostrom Ave. was chosen as the headquarters. The house had already been a meeting place for LGBTQ+ student organizations and was known as the “Pride House.”
Since then, the Center has grown from that house on Ostrom into the LGBTQ+ Resource Center students know today in Schine.
“We have come a long way from the days where we used to have a whole house on Ostrom!” McGee said.
The programming, work and resources available through the Center has grown. The Center now hosts annual initiatives like LGBTQ+ History Month and Trans Week of Visibility.
“Our programming is always evolving to meet the needs of our students in the current moment,” McGee said.
For McGee and Stewart, though, the goal behind all of it is pretty simple: community. All are welcome.
“At the end of the day, that is one thing that hasn’t changed—we are here because of students and for students,” Stewart said.
The LGBTQ+ Resource Center is open to all students regardless of their gender identity or sexuality. Student feedback plays a major role in shaping the Center’s programming, with many events suggested by the students.
So, if you’ve been meaning to check out the LGBTQ+ Resource Center, consider this your sign. Check out the @MYSU_IC Instagram page to learn more about events the Center (and throughout the IC) is hosting. Stop by the Intercultural Collective in Schine, check out an event or just say hi—now is the perfect time. You might find your new favorite campus spot or even your people. Happy LGBTQ+ History Month!
Written By Mirren Grimason ’29, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs