Congratulations!
All LGBTQQIA students who are graduating in Spring, Summer, or Fall 2013 are invited to participate in UT's second annual Lavender Graduation.
Date: Thursday, April 25, 2013
Time: 5:30 pm; ceremony begins at 6:00 pm
Location: Mary Greer Room, Hodges Library
Attire: Casual to business casual
Light refreshments will be served
Sponsored by The Chancellor's Commission for LGBT People and OUTreach: LGBT & Ally Resource Center
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If you are a graduate and would like to participate in the ceremony and receive a certificate and rainbow tassel, please complete this form.
If you are family, friends, or supporters of the LGBTQQIA community, please RSVP.
Questions: lgbtacenter@utk.edu
Origin of Lavender Graduation
In 1995, the first Lavender Graduation ceremony was coordinated at the University of Michigan by then LGBT Campus Resource Center director Ronni Sanlo. Dr. Sanlo realized that LGBT students needed to be recognized for “not only their achievements but for surviving their college years” (Sanlo, 2000). The graduation began as an effort for students to feel connected to their institution and celebrate their identity, which are similar reasons for ethnic groups hosting their own graduation ceremonies.
Dr. Sanlo is currently the Director at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) LGBT Resource Center. When Dr. Sanlo became director at UCLA, she immediately coordinated their first Lavender Graduation in spring 1998. Currently, fifty-nine of The Advocate Top 100 LGBT Friendly Colleges and Universities sponsor a Lavender ceremony (Windmeyer, 2006).
Sanlo, R. (2000). Lavender Graduation: acknowledging the lives and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender college students. Journal of College Student Development, 41(6), pp. 643-646.
Windmeyer, S. L. (2006). The Advocate College Guide For LGBT Students. New York, NY: Alyson Books.
Fagbug
January 23
Hodges Library Auditorium
6:00 PM
Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement
February 13
Hodges Library Auditorium
6:00 PM
Same Difference and When I Knew
March 13
Hodges Library Auditorium
6:00 PM
This Is What Love In Action Looks Like
April 3
Hodges Library Auditorium
6:00 PM
Wednesdays at the Center from 12:15-1:15
Bring your lunch and some friends!
The Resource Center is open to all students, faculty, and staff as a safe space on campus. Check out our blog, our Facebook page, and our listserv to get regular updates about events and programs.
If you would like the Center participate in a program or tabling event, please contact the Center Director, Jesse Ford at jford17@utk.edu preferably two weeks prior to the event.
OUTreach is staffed by the Commission's Graduate Student, Jesse Ford; volunteer staffing is not currently available. If you would like to be involved, keep an eye out for posts on our listserv and Facebook to help with special events like our annual Open House and National Coming Out Day. However, the most fabulous way for you to be a part of OUTreach is to visit the Center and help us spread the word on campus! Tell your friends, colleagues, professors and co-workers that UT has a LGBT & Ally Resource Center. We hope to see you soon!
Jesse Ford is a law student at the University of Tennessee. She grew up in Nashville, TN and attended New York University and Belmont University, where she received a bachelor's degree in Public Relations with a minor in Art History. In addition to being a law student, she serves as the graduate assistant for the Chancellor's Commission for LGBT People. Jesse is committed to creating a welcoming and diverse campus environment. She is excited to work for the OUTreach: LGBT & Ally Resource Center because it is a safe place for students to come and learn more about diversity at UT. She can be reached by email at jford17@utk.edu.
Donna Braquet is Associate Professor and Life Sciences Librarian at the University Libraries. She has been on the facutly at UT since 2004 and helped to create the university's first LGBT advisory council, The Chancellor's Commission for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People. Through her work on the Commission, she oversaw the opening of the OUTreach Resource Center in February of 2010 and has served as coordinator since that time. As coordinator, Donna oversees the strategic direction and managment of the Center, as well as supervises the Center's graduate assistant. Donna is committeed to making UT a welcoming campus for LGBT faculty, students, and staff and is happy that the Center now exists and is used by so many.
Mission
The LGBT and Ally Resource Center works to provide a safe and welcoming environment for UT's diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and ally communities.
Purpose
As a physical symbol of UT’s commitment to diversity, OUTreach provides support, resources, and a community space for UT’s LGBTQQI and ally students, faculty, and staff, and anyone who seeks to learn about sexual orientation or gender identity. OUTreach achieves this by sponsoring programs and events that raise awareness, that increase visibility, and that engage in advocacy regarding LGBTQQIA issues.
Plans for the center began in the summer of 2008, when then-interim UTK chancellor Jan Simek met with the Executive Board of the Chancellor's Commission for LGBT People. When the commission stated its goal of creating an LGBT center on campus, Simek suggested a space in Melrose that was soon to be vacated. Two years later the OUTreach LGBT & Ally Resource Center was opened on February 25th, 2010.
LGBT Center Questions Rankings (Daily Beacon, August 2012)
Event held to promote awareness of LGBT community, prevent bullying, suicide (Daily Beacon, April 2012)
Show Hopes to End Discrimination (Daily Beacon, March 2012)Artist Spreads Acceptance (Daily Beacon, March 2012)
LGBT Center Provides Support, Acceptance (Daily Beacon, February 2012)
LGBTA resource center opens Feb. 25 (Tennessee Journalist, TNJN)New LGBT Resource Center Opens on the UTK Campus (Metro Pulse)
UT to Open GLBT Resource Center This Month (OutAndAbout)
The OUTreach LGBT & Ally Resource Center at the University of Tennessee relies greatly on private donations. Please consider contributing using the Donate Now button above.
For information on how to donate books/journals/magazines/DVDs and other materials, contact Donna Braquet, dbraquet@utk.edu
Melrose Hall, F-103
1616 Melrose Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37996
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