The Q Center winter 2019

Pride Month programming for Stonewall 50th anniversary

In October, during LGBTQ History Month, Binghamton University commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprisings. The Q Center, together with a number of campus partners, coordinated a month-long series of programs. Major events included:

• a queer film with partner Harpur Cinema
• a concert featuring LatinX alumna Taina Asili ‘00 and La Banda Rebelde
• a Pride Festival with partner Binghamton Late Nite
• a Pride Kickoff Parade
• The Southern Tier GSA Summit, the first known gathering of rural high school Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs.
• An Evening with Binghamton University alumnus Steven Canals ’05, MA ’08. Canals is the creator, co-writer and co-producer of the award winning FX TV show Pose.

The following co-sponsors made monetary contributions to the budget with the express goal of making all events for the month free:

• Alumni Engagement
• Binghamton University President Harvey G. Stenger
• Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Harpur Cinema
• Harpur College of Arts and Sciences
• Institute for Justice and Well-Being
• Multicultural Resource Center
• Office of the Dean of Students
• Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Over 700 participants attended Pride Month programming.

The Southern Tier GSA Summit

The Q Center invited 35 Southern Tier high schools to bring the members of their Gay Straight Alliance or similar club and the club’s advisor to Binghamton University for a half-day summit. Using support materials from the National Association of GSA Networks, Binghamton University students designed a summit that helped students learn about the purpose of the GSA and how to properly run their organizations. Advisors discussed the challenges they face and the type of support they need to grow in their roles. While 30 students and advisors registered, only five students and five5 advisors attended event. This was due to poor information that was received during planning that led to scheduling the event on a weekend. The advisors remarked that if the summit had been held on a weekday they would have been able to more fully participate. Evaluations from the summit were quite strong and it would be desirable to host one again next fall. Talks are already underway with the Identity Youth Program run by the Southern Tier AIDS Program due to their funding as a GSA technical assistance provider for the Southern Tier.

Name Change Policy

The Name Change Policy was adopted by the Senior Officers Group in November and will go into effect Jan. 2, 2020. Students will be able to request a name change via BU BRAIN and employees will request a change through Human Resources.

Active Ally Program

For the fall 2019 semester, the Safe Zone Active Ally Program performed a total of five trainings with a total participation of 41 people comprised of 14 undergraduate students, four graduate students, and 24 faculty and staff. The trainings performed included two student Level 1 Foundations trainings (one all-campus event and the other for Hinman College), one faculty and staff Level 1 Foundations training, and one each of student and faculty/staff Unpacking Cis-Het Privilege Deep Dives. The training events did have some challenges. We held two unsuccessful trainings in the College-in-the-Woods and Apartment communities. This issue was addressed between the education and training coordinator and the Office Residence Life and is being monitored moving forward to continue to grow the collaboration between our offices.

Additionally, during the semester, the program was rebranded as the Active Ally Program, dropping the Safe Zone name due to it being unnecessary to the goals of the program. In support of this, the program is currently going through the development process for an official lock-up and logo from the Office of Communications and Marketing. The program was also uploaded into the BEngaged track function for participants to track and record their progress in the program. Finally, the program has begun its assessment of the first semester of data comprising of pre/post-tests from the Level 1 Foundations training and post-tests from the Unpacking Cis-Het Privilege Deep Dive. The goal is to assess the types of existing knowledge and what is being learned throughout the process of the Tier 1 launch in order to adjust Tier 1 and facilitate the creation and launch of Tier 2 in the future. Each of these assessments and tracking processes has been supported and developed along with Student Affairs Assessment and Strategic Initiatives.