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)
