Student Group Spotlight: Penn Q & A
For our inaugural newsletter, we wanted to highlight the phenomenal work student groups do to build sustainable change on Penn’s campus. As Queer & Asian (Q&A) is one of our larger and more active groups, we reached out to their Board to pitch the idea of submitting a blurb about their work, mission, and goals. Q&A graciously declined the offer, citing that many of the members are not out to everyone, and no one in the group felt comfortable submitting a photo. In saying, “no” the staff at the Center wanted to take this moment to acknowledge two critical things publicly:
- Saying “no” and setting your boundaries is one of the best things a person or group can do for themselves. At Penn, so often, we become conditioned to say “yes” to every possibility. We do this in the hopes to build more connections, add another thing to our resume, or attempt to wipe away the feelings we associate with imposter syndrome. Saying “yes” too frequently means we have to say “no” to our personal needs more often. What we often forget is that saying “no” allows us to say “yes” to ourselves. We applaud Q&A for naming their wants and needs and strive to live by their example.
- Even in 2019 not everyone feels comfortable sharing their gender or sexual orientation journey with others. We can refer to many pieces of legislation, Supreme Court decisions, public attitudes, and perceptions that have shifted significant components of the United States’ culture, opinions, and beliefs. Yet, there are still many pockets and realities of Philadelphia, the United States, and the world where safety must be prioritized over visibility. There is so much more work to be done, and the Center is committed to engage in this work.
Please tune in to our next newsletter as we reconfigure and assess what visibility on this platform can look like for Penn’s LGBTQ+ students. With consent, we will share what is happening within our student groups at the LGBT Center.
Lavender Graduation, 2019
On May 10, 2019, the Center hosted its annual Lavender Graduation, honoring a record 74 Penn graduates. Before the ceremony, attendees were treated to selections by Penn Flutes and a letter of congratulations from President Gutmann. As each graduate was called forward, they were presented with a unique Philadelphia Pride Flag rainbow tassel donated by Mohammed Shaik Hussain Ali GEN’08. The tassels were handmade at the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs and unique to our ceremony. Grads were also given a certificate of appreciation.
This year’s keynote speaker was Iván Espinoza-Madrigal C’01, Executive Director of the Lawyers for Civil Rights. Iván spoke about the need to translate our work into civil service by advancing social protections for LGBTQ populations in the United States. Grads were then welcomed into the alumni community by Marc Dickstein C’06, PennGALA co-chair, and then celebrated with a BBQ feast and cake from Crust Vegan Bakery after the ceremony.
Photo Above from L to R: Tiff Thompson [she/her/hers] (Former Associate Director), Aiden Castellanos C’19 [they/them/their] (Lavender Graduate), and Erin Cross [she/her/hers] (Director)
JBS Spotlight: Sarah Simi Cohen, GSE ’19
Looking back on my time at the University of Pennsylvania, the LGBT Center remains one of the strongest pieces of my development and survival. Having staff like Erin, Tiffany, and Malik to guide me through my master’s program, my personal leadership journey, and activism was an irreplaceable gift. Without the Center, FGLIQ would not be thriving this year, nor would I be continuing my studies at the University of Texas at Austin, pursuing my PhD in Higher Education Leadership. As a recent alumn, I am learning how to navigate new communities, while remaining connected to Penn. The homes and family I left are not in my past, they simply guide me on my journey today through all of my future endeavors.
Receiving the James Brister Society Graduate Leadership Award remains one of the best experiences of my life. Reflecting on the other influential campus leaders and scholars who are dedicated to transformative liberation in that room, I finally felt seen. As a masters student, we are in and out of the university so fast, we seldom have opportunities to create meaningful change on campus. Working with other students, faculty, and staff, we actively made that change, despite the many limitations at hand. I am forever grateful I was chosen to be one of many in James Brister’s legacy. I hope to keep honoring and working in his legacy by continuing the work towards liberation for all peoples through my research, activism, and practice.
James Brister Awards
In spring 2019, Penn Alumni honored seven exceptional students at the annual James Brister Society (JBS) awards. The JBS awards honor students who, “by [the] power of their example, support and promote the University of Pennsylvania’s efforts to attract, encourage, and maintain a culturally diverse community of faculty, students, administrators, staff, and volunteers, thus enriching the University community as a whole.” Of the six honorees, four students with a direct Center connection were honored.
The nomination process for the JBS includes nominations from the cultural resource centers on campus, which are then selected by the alumni working within JBS. Members include alumni currently and formerly sitting on Penn’s board of directors as well as committees across the university. Four students with a direct Center connection were honored highlighting their intersectional work and that of the Center. Congratulations to:
Chloe Cheng, recipient of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Alumni Association Student Leadership Award
Luke Kertcher, recipient of the Asian Alumni Network Student Leadership Award
Gabriella Lott, recipient of the James Brister Society Student Leadership Award
Sarah Simi Cohen, recipient of the James Brister Society Student Leadership Award
Message from the Staff
Friends –
You helped to make the LGBT Center what is it today. How we fully actualize and support individuals who come through our doors today is due in no small part to those who have come before. The Center is nothing without you. The Center is you. Our Center is a direct reflection and representation of those who use our shared space.
At the Center, we do not understand alumni as being a fixed identity or status. Much like gender and sexuality (and most social statuses) being an alumnus is fluid. You may have graduated this past May, or maybe you graduated in the Spring of 1967, like Tom Wilson Weinberg, who is our featured alumni in this inaugural issue. Being an alumnus of Penn means that you graciously graduated from Penn. It also means that you are still welcome, affirmed, nurtured, and valued in the Center.
Janet Mock may have said it best, “I think of family as community. I think of the spaces where you don’t have to shrink yourself, where you don’t have to pretend or perform. You can fully show up and be vulnerable and in silence, completely empty, and that’s enough. You show up, as you are, without judgment, without ridicule, without fear or violence, or policing, or containment. And you can be there, and you’re filled all the way up. So, we get to choose our families. We are not limited by biology. We get to make ourselves, and we get to make our families .”
The Center exists as a second home, a refuge from the cis-heteronormative expectations of the outside world. As you helped us form our space in this way, we have – and always will – understand you as part of our chosen family. It is no mistake the Center’s motto is, “you belong.”
In a more concentrated effort to make sure you experience the love, value, and nurturance the Center has for you and our current students, we created this quarterly newsletter. It does not even have a name yet – we were so excited to reach out and rebuild our connection. (One of the first things we would like to do together is to figure out a name for this newsletter — send us suggestions!) Each quarter we will share highlights and happenings of our communities, the Center, and most importantly, our student, staff, faculty, and alumni family.
Welcome, again, to the Center. You belong.
In solidarity,
Erin, Malik, Sam, and Loran