Q Center spring 2019

Q Center launches Safe Zone - Active Ally Program

In February, the Q Center launched the Safe Zone - Active Ally Program with an offering of Active Ally I for Students. Safe Zone workshops had not been offered at the University since before 2016, when the Q Center was established. Our new program represents a significant update to traditional Safe Zone models. While the old Safe Zone model focused on understanding LGBTQIA identities and passive support of LGBTQIA people, the Active Ally model focuses on what it means to serve the LGBTQIA community in an active capacity. This new program will eventually grow to have three tiers that address (1) basic ally development, (2) systemic oppression and LGBTQIA communities, and (3) sustainable change.

Safe Zone - Active Ally I for Students is a three-hour workshop that examines the lived experience of LGBTQIA people and challenges participants to identify what it means to be an ally. Participants experience deep learning about human sexual identity; examine the impacts of oppression and privilege on LGBTQIA individuals and communities; explore intersecting minoritized identities; and engage in experiential activities that encourage exploration of what personal allyship to LGBTQIA individuals and communities means for participants. The employee version will be rolled out in the coming months.

Q Center signature events

• Rainbow Welcome Back was our First Year Experience Program’s new spring kick-off event, held Jan. 2. It mirrored the Rainbow Welcome orientation program we offer to first year-students in the fall. Rainbow Welcome Back was planned by the Pegasus First Year Experience Programming Board at the Q Center. The board is composed of first-year students who take on the fun responsibility of planning monthly social programs for themselves and their peers. There were 23 first-year students in attendance.
• Queer Flicks, the LGBTQ monthly film series, kicked off the spring semester with two powerful documentaries. The New Black, our offering for Black History Month, tells the story of the fight for marriage equality in Maryland and the role of the Black church. The L Word Mississippi, our offering for Women’s History Month, shared the stories of several lesbian couples trying to make lives for themselves in the American Deep South.

Q Center/Fleishman Center collaboration

Fleishman Center Career Consultant Erin Wise has been paired with the Q Center to provide specific support to LGBTQ students. This semester, Wise has been visiting the center weekly to offer a series of short conversations around important career topics such as branding, updating your LinkedIn profile and Prep for Bing career fairs. The Q Center is also supporting Wise in creating a new career guide specifically for LGBTQ students.

Q Center department operations

During the spring semester, the Q Center has seven undergraduate interns, and one full-time and one part-time graduate assistant. The interns are working in programming, supporting center operations and helping to collaborate with Residence Life and Health Prevention and Promotion Services.

Q Center participates in the Binghamton University Health Fair

The Q Center hosted a table at the campus Health Fair on March 13, which attracted both students and employees and provided a great opportunity to talk with people about the health risks faced by LGBTQ people. Those health risks include increased risk of breast cancer for Lesbian women and increased risk of heart attack or stroke for transgender people. Seventy-two attendees stopped by the table.