LGBTQAI events

Published Feb. 3, 2011

Learning about the different communities and cultures is an essential part of the college experience. It offers individuals a chance to grow considerably as human beings and grants rare insights into things one might not normally get to experience in their daily lives. MSUM offers a fantastic variety of programs, lectures, and colloquiums that cater to the ever-growing student and faculty hunger for knowledge, and on February 10, humanitarian awareness and intellectual expansion will get yet another boost from two events being held in the CMU.
The first event, taking place from 1pm-4pm in the CMU Ballroom, is MSUM Safe Zone Training, sponsored by the MSUM Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This informational meeting, led by Donna Brown, APV of student Affairs for Diversity and Inclusion, and Kyle Rausch, Admissions Councilor, aims to educate and inform individuals about LGBTQAI. “A Safe Zone,” Brown says, “is a place where someone can go and feel comfortable talking about LGBTQAI issues, or to talk about anything without fear of discrimination.” Those who attend the session will be provided with the resources they need to establish a safe and welcoming atmosphere for LGBTQAI persons. Brown feels that “the more people we can educate and assist with being comfortable discussing LGBTQAI issues the better.” Brown strongly urges students in leadership positions such as SOCs and RAs to attend the meeting. There are many faculty members throughout the MSUM campus whose offices already feature the colorful Safe Zone sticker on their doors. MSUM History professor Annette Morrow and Safe Zone ally who has been approached multiple times by students interested in finding information or counseling services, has this to say of the program; “The Safe Zone program provided me with information about how to handle situations –and about where to send students for help if they needed it. I am personally gratified when I have good answers for students who are questioning or in crisis.” Like Brown, Morrow believes that it is important that students know there are places they can go to chant freely without the worry of judgment
A full list of MSUM Safe Zone contact names and numbers can be found at http://www.mnstate.edu/safezone/contacts_dept.cfm.
During the second event, Rainbow Rice, held only on February 10 from 7pm-8pm in CMU 101, guest speaker Pamela Roy will talk about the complex and intersecting nature of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexual orientation as it pertains to members of the Asian/Asian Diaspora communities. Roy holds a national leadership position as the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered Issues Knowledge Community Co-Chair for NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Brown, who knows Roy personally, believes that Roy will bring something unique to the table and leave attendees feeling that this “Wasn’t that same old lecture.” Brown feels that “We sometime skim the surface of topics such as the LGBTQAI community. We need to dig a little deeper and take more interest in the individuals and the individual situations.”
The context of the Rainbow Rice lecture will look at the experiences of South Asian lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer-identified student/administrators/faculty; South Asian transgender graduate students; Indian South African faculty in post colonial contexts, and students of color at faith-based institutions. While Rainbow Rice is open to everyone, the lecture would be particularly beneficial towards students interested in Multicultural, Gender, and Sociology studies.
A second Safe Zone informational meeting will also take place March 10 at the same time and place. For more information pertaining to either of these events, go to the Rainbow Room located in the CMU, contact Donna Brown at donna.brown@mnstate.edu, Kyle Rausch at kyle.rausch@mnstate.edu, or Anita Bender at anita.bender@mnstate.edu.
“Our true desire to be prepared to live and work in a diverse community,” Brown concluded, “is reflected in the attendance and participation of events of this type.”