Name: Sydney Tisch
Year: Sophomore
Major(s): Women’s and Gender Studies & Peace and Justice Studies
Minor(s): Queer Studies
Hometown: Kenosha, Wisconsin
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
What is it like working as a student assistant for the LGBTQ+ Center?
I absolutely love it! Working alongside my boss, Erin Furey, and the other student assistants has really pushed me to grow and develop my skills as an employee. I feel much more confident in my abilities than I did when I first started and think I’ve really redefined what I’m capable of and feel comfortable doing in the workplace. Also it’s incredible to be doing work related to my passions and field of study, while also working on developing a queer community and family here at the Center!
Why do you feel it’s important to have this kind of space on campus?
Queer students often feel marginalized, even in the most accepting spaces, due to the structural violence of homophobia and heteronormativity that we encounter at nearly every corner. Whether it’s a stranger assuming your gender/pronouns or being starved for non-heterosexual characters in your favorite TV show, it can quite literally be exhausting just existing as a queer person in today’s society. Therefore, having spaces like these on campus where being queer is celebrated and there is a huge family who you can turn to for love, support, and shared experiences is absolutely incredible! It’s a place to rejuvenate and feel at home in a world that is often much less welcoming than we’d like it to be.
Favorite event the Center has hosted so far?
I think my favorite event the Center has hosted so far that I’ve been involved in was the Drag Bingo event back in September. We had over 100 people come by the end of the night, which was absolutely wild – especially considering it was my first major event that I worked at as a student assistant! It was great to see so many students come and support one another in a queer take-over of the Student Union!
Can you tell us about the new group called the Queer Society?
Queer Society was started by a group of students here on campus that was noticing a lack of space to discuss amongst themselves and advocate for queer issues. They’re focusing on intersectionality, inclusivity, and education for and run by queer students on campus! They’re having their first meeting on 2/14 and will continue every Tuesday at common hour in room W607! As a student assistant I’m not intimately involved in the planning or Eboard of the group, but I’ve worked with most of the students involved and went to their first interest meeting last semester and I am positive that it’s going to grow into a fantastic group that’s going to achieve a lot of incredible things and I encourage everyone who’s available to go and check it out!
RENT or Rocky Horror Picture Show?
I’m gonna have to go with RENT, just because it was one of the first media depictions of queer people that I saw in movies and musicals, as well as my first introduction to the AIDS crisis and what that meant for the community.