Currently, Saint Vincent College has denied permission for a club centered on the LGBT students in our community. I think all students can agree that Saint Vincent is a place that truly becomes your home. It’s a place that feels safe, welcomes you with open arms, and allows your dreams to become your reality. So, when the petition was denied for a LGBT club, students were not happy. They felt that this did not reflect the values or mission of the college that everyone so strongly supports. While the position of the Catholic Church is clear on their position in this topic, it is still confusing as to why our college will not support this cause or club.
Students have deemed Friday March 23rd an awareness day to show those unwelcoming persons how widely supported and accepted the cause is. Organizers of the event started a “you caring” page, much like “go fund me” asking for donations that will go toward t-shirts. The idea is that a free shirt will be provided to anyone that wants to support this cause. Everyone will wear those shirts on March 23rd. The shirts are in multiple colors and have the simple phrase “I Stand For Love” on them. They have raised $1,600 from 53 different people. The donators include friends, family, faculty, and staff of the college. The majority of supporters also shared their thoughts for donating. Ashley Geese stated in her response “As an SVC alum, I’m totally backing this wonderful cause! There has got to be more love and support for everyone on the SVC campus.” Many others shared words of support saying things like “everyone deserves to feel loved” and “love is love.” Senior Adam Ferguson added “’Never apologize for who you love.’ Awesome job, Kat. Saint Vincent has taught me to accept everyone for who they are no matter their background.”
I took some time to talk with Katie Harwick, one of the organizers of the event. In our conversation Katie mentioned, “This is important to me because I have personally been affected by the campus’ lack of support for LGBT+ students. I don’t want anyone to ever feel like they don’t belong somewhere, especially at a college that is supposed to feel like home. The goal of this event is to simply show students that they are loved. We hope that this makes anyone who feels like they are different or an outcast on this campus that they are important, valid, and never alone.” Furthermore, Katie explains that they originally order 255 shirts but then added another order of 24. Keep in mind that the shirts were solely paid for by a fundraiser, not the shirt wearers directly. The organizers then distributed the shirts across a three day time span to students, faculty, and staff. Katie added, “I know not everyone who wants a shirt will get one, but I am so proud of the effort and support we were shown during the process of this event. Saint Vincent is about to make a change for the better. Thank you to everyone for that!”
We’re proud of you too, Katie, and everyone taking a stand for such an important cause. Her Campus St. Vincent would like to share their support of this much needed demonstration. We stand with every student on this campus no matter their gender, race, or who they love. Thank you to the organizers of this event for making it happen! Make sure you’re paying attention to our social media on Friday to see the students showing their support.
HCXO & I stand with love,
Juli