Do you identify as queer? Are you an ally to the LGBTQ+ community? Are you interested in unique community service opportunities? If you answered yes to any of those questions, read on to learn about HWS PRIDE OUT-Reach and how the club is revamping itself!
Name of Club: HWS Pride: OUT-Reach
Where/when do you currently meet? Wednesdays at 8:00 pm in the Intercultural Affairs House
Current President (aka Contact Person): Alexa Holmes (alexa.holmes@hws.edu) or Jewel Carrier-Davis (jewel.Carrier-Davis@hws.edu)
Advisor: Katie Stiffler
Club Goal: The goal of HWS Pride before this year was to discuss relevant issues to the LGBTQ+ community within, and outside of, Hobart and William Smith Colleges. However, we think our time would be better spent and our impact greater if Pride OUT-reach narrowed its focus to engaging in LGBTQ+ activism and outreach within the Finger Lakes region and HWS. Our new club goal is to create positive change in our communities with the help of our skilled LGBTQ+ group at HWS.
Any new changes the campus community should know about: As noted above, Pride will be incredibly different next year. Weekly meetings will still occur, and can be used to discuss relevant issues, but will mostly be dedicated to the planning and execution of outreach/activism projects. Furthermore, in order for Pride to truly change and evolve, we also understand that its board and involvement must also. In the past, we have catered mostly to the white LGB population at HWS; this reflects the older version of Pride, a flawed and incomplete version and one we can, and must, move away from. Therefore, board positions for Pride OUT-reach will be open to those who are not members of Pride currently, as we hope to holistically engage and represent HWS’s LGBTQ+ community members.
M.Q. “What is your role in the club?”
A.H. I [Alexa Holmes] am the Co-President of Pride, along with Jewel Carrier-Davis. However, Pride as it currently exists is made up of a small team of students who have been working collectively to make this shift to OUT-reach. So while I am Co-President, Pride is unique in that efforts and duties are very democratic. We will be searching for new board members for next year, so if you are interested in a leadership position feel free to reach out to us!
M.Q. “How did you get involved with the club?”
A.H. I got involved with Pride loosely during my Sophomore and Junior years at HWS. I used to attend (sporadically) to engage with the queer community on campus. At the beginning of this year, Pride had no leadership nor plans to carry on through the academic year. My increased involvement with Pride is greatly due to the incredible amount of time and effort that students such as Bex Czajkowski and Alex Cottrell put into ensuring that Pride would still exist as a resource for HWS students during the 2017-2018 academic year. Friendship and community are central to my involvement with Pride, and the amazing relationships I have made with all of its members are greatly responsible for my involvement.
M.Q. “Why should others on campus get involved?”
A.H. I think people should get involved with Pride for so many reasons. The first reason is a more practical one, as the shift to OUT-reach allows for students to get hands-on experiences working within and giving back to queer communities and organizations in our area. For anyone who is interested in doing LGBTQ+ activism or outreach, human rights work, or even networking or marketing, OUT-reach will be a great way to gain experience to work toward your own personal/career goals.
The more important reason is one that’s really more of my opinion. Hobart and William Smith Colleges is not an institution renowned for its LGBTQ+ student life or community. In fact, it is lacking such. There is barely any queer community on this campus, and that is due to the ways in which our institution fails in terms of making efforts towards diversity and inclusion for any reason other than “making face” for its own publicity. Queer students often have to find community within other groups, ones which may not really serve as a space that is wholly inclusive or valuing of of queerness, such as sports teams or other clubs. OUT-reach will be a club for the queer community. One which actively serves LGBTQ+ individuals and organizations within and without HWS. It will be a space that is intolerant of the intolerance this campus permeates. We hope that OUT-reach will serve as a space for connections to be made between LGBTQ+ individuals at HWS, but also as an organization that allows for HWS students to get out into and give back to the communities that house us for our four (or so) years here.
Lastly, people should get involved because this club is brand new – members will be able to shape it to be the space that they want/need it to be. The point of our change is to meet the needs of our LGBTQ+ students and broader communities; we hope LGBTQ+ individuals will take advantage of that!
M.Q. “Where do you hope the club will go in the future? Or what are some of the club’s long term goals?
A.H. As somewhat stated before, we really hope that OUT-reach will become a space and organization that will be useful to, supportive of, and productive for HWS’s entire LGBTQ+ community. We also hope that the club will be a force for positive change in the Finger Lakes Region.
Our long term goals are as follows:
— Increasing the strength and connectedness of HWS’ LGBTQ+ Community
— Planning and executing one major outreach/activism project per month outside of HWS
— Creating and maintaining connections with LGBTQ+ organizations outside of HWS, including organizations supporting/addressing LGBTQ+ youth, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, LGBTQ+ healthcare initiatives, LGBTQ+ homelessness and hunger, etc.
Thank you, Alexa, for answering all of these questions about HWS PRIDE OUT-Reach. If you are interested in getting involved (everyone is welcome!) please reach out to Alexa Holmes, Jewel Carrier-Davis, or me (meghan.quint@hws.edu).