Pride month typically occurs throughout June with companies and cities hanging their pride flags high. Since most students will not live on campus during the summer, and therefore will not have the opportunity to celebrate traditional pride with the campus, Elizabethtown College celebrates pride early with campus wide events and opportunities for both learning and enjoyment. The start of April officially marks the beginning of Etown Does Pride, a campus wide celebration of the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community.
To start the month off, on April 1, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) held their annual “Pride Kickoff,” which included speeches from members of the campus community and opportunities to engage in decorating the campus with pride-related messages.
At the beginning of the event, Director of Student Opportunity, Access and Engagement Darcy Mills touched on the importance of pride as a protest in the wider landscape and supporting LGBTQ+ students during this time.
“Pride is not a party. Pride is protest,” Mills said. “It’s what happens when we turn survival into celebration, and silence into sound.”
Following Mills’ remarks, GSA President and junior biology pre-medicine major Alysse Smith spoke on taking on her role as president and the importance of elevating diverse members of the community.
“I became the GSA President because of something I continued to witness in the environments around me: incredible, brilliant, and passionate queer individuals censoring themselves out of fear,” Smith said. “I’ve watched such talented and diverse leaders dim their own light because they were afraid of the repercussions that come with simply existing as themselves. And I’ve seen firsthand how quickly hate and bigotry can grow when there isn’t a force standing against it.”
One student who wanted to attend but could not make the event, junior psychology major Madie Cannon, gave her remarks for Smith to read. In her remarks, Cannon talked about her own experiences in Catholic school, conversion therapy and finally finding acceptance in the LGBTQ+ community. Her acceptance of herself came after accidentally stumbling upon a pride parade and receiving a lot of hugs. While her journey came with a high amount of adversity, she stated her continual support for the community.
In addition to student remarks, members of the faculty and staff spoke about their perspectives on pride and experiences as LGBTQ+ individuals. Assistant Professor of English Literature Patrick Allen, Program Coordinator of Community and Civic Engagement Leda Warner and GSA Advisor Professor of Biology Diane Bridgeall spoke on LGBTQ+ history and acknowledged the progress the LGBTQ+ community has made over time in their own personal histories and the wider world.
Each had their own reason to speak during this time.
“Pride is incredibly important right now. So much of our country’s current political discourse is increasingly anti-LGBTQ+, especially anti-trans, and it makes me feel increasingly responsible to be a queer model for Etown students,” Allen said. “I lacked LGBTQ+ models in college, so I want to show students, queer and otherwise, what it looks like to be out and to speak out, especially when things are scary. That’s why I quoted Audre Lorde, who calls us to transform silence into language and action. We have to be proud of ourselves and our identities if we’re going to survive and thrive in these times”
“I think it’s important for LGBTQ students to know that there are staff and faculty members on campus who support them and are also members of the queer community,” Warner said. “I want any LGBTQ student on campus to know that I’m part of their support network and I’m here if they need someone to talk to. I also think it’s important for the queer community to be visible – so people know we’re here and we’re proud of who we are.”
In addition to the importance of telling stories and giving LGBTQ+ students role models, the speakers at the event emphasized that celebrating pride aligns with Etown’s ideals of peace, non-violence, human dignity and social justice, which the college has had since its Brethren founding.
“The heart of our community has always been acceptance and not tolerance, but genuine acceptance of all identities, expressions, and journeys. It requires a willingness to listen more than you speak, to learn continually, and to approach others with an open heart and mind,” Smith said.
During a time of stress for a lot of LGBTQ+ members of the Etown campus community, a point of emphasis was staying resilient.
“Let this Pride be a call to action. A fire that does not go out,” Mills said.
Then, students made cards to show support to LGBTQ+ students and wrote messages on the Baugher Student Center (BSC) patio.
Etown Does Pride events will continue to happen throughout the month of April. For more information, email GSA at gsa@etown.edu or follow them on Instagram at @etown.gsa.
