Saint Mary’s 16th Lavender Celebration Recognizes All LGBTQIA+ Graduates Have Accomplished
On May 11, the College joined hundreds of institutions across the country in honoring its LGBTQIA+ graduates. For many, their time at Saint Mary’s has been one of immense self-discovery.
Tyra Thompson ’23 is not the person she was when she arrived at Saint Mary’s four years ago. But that’s for the better, she says.
“I didn't step onto this campus open as queer,” she shared during her keynote address for the Intercultural Center’s Lavender Graduate Celebration on May 11, looking out at her LGBTQIA+ identifying peers and their community gathered in Hagerty Lounge. “The person you see up here hasn't always existed, and it took her time to figure some things out.”
But thanks to the Intercultural Center, she continued, along with the Queer Thoughts Collective Hour–a monthly discussion series Thompson helped create–she has been able to accept herself more completely. “There's now a wave of pride that flows through my body whenever I choose to be open on this campus.”
Since 2006, the College’s Lavender Graduate Celebration has offered LGBTQIA+ Gaels the space to celebrate how far they have come: academically, of course, but also personally. Saint Mary’s is one of more than 500 colleges, universities, and high schools nationwide to put on a Lavender Celebration.
The ceremony was first established in 1995 by Ronni Sanlo, a lesbian professor at the University of Michigan who sought to create a positive graduation experience for queer and transgender students. It also draws its distinctive coloring from the history of LGBTQIA+ civil rights; what was once used pejoratively (in the 1950s, gay men were often labeled “lavender lads”) has since been repurposed as the hue of protest, and now, celebration.
“There's now a wave of pride that flows through my body whenever I choose to be open on this campus," keynote speaker Tyra Thompson ’23 shared.
And there was plenty to celebrate in Hagerty. After Thompson’s talk, BSU President Jasmin Hill ’23 awarded Communication professor Scott Schonfeldt-Aultman with the Paul Giurlanda Award, presented annually to a staff or faculty member with an exceptional commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community. Next, Thompson returned to the stage to hand out the Student Leadership Award to Erin Dalton ’23, a key organizer behind this year’s Coming Out Day, Trans Visibility Panel, and Efflorescence.
Later, graduating Gaels spilled out into the quad, posing together beneath the lavender balloon arch. They beamed at the cameras, at their parents, at one another. To borrow Thompson’s phrase, some of these students did not exist four years ago. But they do now, and that is worth applauding.
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