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LGBTQI Life E-Newsletter [Vanderbilt University]

3/1/2023

Make March Meaningful

#BeYouAtVU

Thank you to all who attended the return of Vanderbilt’s OUT in Front conference on February 23rd! On pause since COVID, this hybrid conference welcomed hundreds of students, faculty, staff, non-profit workers, and community members from across the U.S. to discuss queer/trans community care, particularly in The South. We look forward to seeing you this month for events to celebrate Women’s History month, National Disabilities Awareness month, and Bisexual Health Awareness month, such as our virtual panel about disability, race, gender, and sexual identity on Thursday, March 2nd. March also kicks off our Transgender and Nonbinary Author Series featuring Lydia Conklin, an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt, and a reading from their collection of stories Rainbow Rainbow on March 24. From a panel about Justice in Action to drop-in online P.R.I.D.E. Training, this month has an event for everyone! Stay tuned for more information about ways to honor International Trans Day of Visibility on March 31st. 

Lastly, we encourage you to consider nominating LGBTQI students, faculty, and staff who have made a meaningful, positive contribution and/or impact within the LGBTQI+ community. Nominations can be submitted by March 24th by clicking here! Award winners will be honored and celebrated during our Lavender Graduation ceremony taking place on May 4th. If you have any pictures or videos you’ve taken over the last school year, please email them to us to feature at Lav Grad! If you are interested in serving on the Lavender Graduation Planning Committee, please email Steph Mahnke

Office of LGBTQI Life

  


LGBTQI LIFE EVENTS


Spring 2023 Banned Book Initiative Reading Groups

30 Banned Books Everyone Needs to Read in 2022 | Banned Books ListJoin us for any Spring 2023 Reading Groups. Facilitators will reach out closer to the group’s start with information about accessing the books and the logistics of the meetings. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to lgbtqi@vandebilt.edu or any of the other participating offices. Find out more and sign up here.


3/2 Disability Panel

All are invited to a panel about the intersections of disability, race, gender, and sexuality on Thursday, March 2nd from 10am-12pm online. RSVP and/or submit questions for our panelists.

 


3/6 Justice in Action: Narratives of Black Activists in Nashville

Join CSRL, LGBTQI Life, and the Women’s Center as we host a panel of Black activists in the Nashville area to hear their stories. Panelists:

  • Odessa Kelly, Co-founder of Stand Up Nashville and Former Candidate for Congress (TN-07)
  • Jordan Scruggs, Communication & Social Media Consultant and Steering Committee Member of Healthy and Free Tennessee
  • Phillis Sheppard, Director, James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements

Lunch will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. RSVP here.


3/9 and 3/23 Banned Book Reading Group: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Join the BCC’s March reading groups for The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison on 3/9 and 3/23 virtually at 5pm. Facilitated by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. Contact Vee Byrd for more information.


3/22 Commons Service Week: Supporting Survivors

Supporting Survivors | Student Wellness & Health PromotionThe 2023 Commons Service Week Forum for all first-year students will take place on Wednesday, March 22 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in The Commons Multipurpose Room. This is a great opportunity for conversation surrounding individual identities and privilege, how sexual assault prevention shows up for marginalized communities, the resources we have at Vanderbilt, and how to support survivors. RSVP here.


3/24 TGNB Author Series: Lydia Conklin

For the first event in our Trans & Nonbinary Author Series, LGBTQI Life will host Lydia Conklin for a read from Rainbow, Rainbow and a Q&A followed by mixer. RSVP here! We have chosen this book to correspond with Women’s History Month in its exploration of the diversity of women-aligned character representations in the queer community.


3/30 Online P.R.I.D.E. Training

Join us for a drop-in P.R.I.D.E. Training online on Thursday, 3/30 from 6-9pm and receive a display placard. RSVP here.

 


LGBTQI Life Programming Survey

What do you need from us? Complete our short 3-minute survey to provide input on our LGBTQI Life events and programming.

 


3/24: Lavender Graduation Award Nomination Submission Deadline

Lavender Graduation | Office of Diversity and Inclusion | Wichita State UniversityWe are introducing a new Outstanding Student Organization award this year! All award submissions are due by March 24th. Register to attend here. Interested in helping us plan our annual Lavender Graduation ceremony on May 4th? Contact Steph Mahnke to join our planning committee!


CAMPUS EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES


The Inclusive Connector

Inclusive Connector

To learn about news, events, and happenings related to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, sign up for the Inclusive Connector. Please sign up here.


3/1 Women’s History Month 2023 Kickoff

Join the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center to kick off the start of Women’s History Month! This event will feature several giveaways, including refreshments and a printed events calendar. See this and all WHM events here.


3/1 Thom Rutledge Speaker Event: Talking Back to an Eating Disorder

Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating D – Covenant BookstoreCome join Vanderbilt NEDA Campus Warriors for a speaker event with Thom Rutledge LCSW, who is a psychotherapist, author, speaker, and workshop facilitator based in Nashville, Tennessee on 3/1 from 7-8pm at Buttrick 309.. Come listen to him speak about why eating disorders develop as well as strategies for learning how to overcome them. This presentation will be helpful not just for people who have struggled personally, but also for friends and family members of those who have struggled to gain better insight. Thom will be focusing on “How to Talk Back to An Eating Disorder.” GME credit available. 


3/2 Under the Rainbow: Lesbian and Gay Parenting Today

The LGBTQ+ Policy Lab at Vanderbilt will host Dr. Charlotte Patterson, Chair of the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at the University of Virginia for an invited lecture. Dr. Patterson’s talk will take place on Thursday, March 2 at 12pm in Light Hall 214. You can also RSVP for free lunch at the QR code in the flier. Feel free to reach out to Dr. Kirsty Clark with any questions.


3/3 Mindfulness Yoga with Vandy NEDA

The Eco-Healthy Reasons for Practicing Outdoor YogaJoin us for a Mindfulness Yoga Session to close out our programming for Eating Disorder Awareness Week on Friday, March 3rd from 4:45-5:45 at the Community Event Space! This yoga class will encourage self-acceptance and peace and help you experience your body in a different way. Rather than focusing on external appearance, this class will face away from the mirror and help you experience your body internally, mindfully, and non-judgmentally.


3/3, 3/10, 3/24 Women’s Center: Free Book Friday

Stop by the Women’s Center on Fridays in March to celebrate Women’s History Month by picking up a free book! A few available books include: Saved by a Song, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Bluest Eye, How to Raise an Adult, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, Vanguard, Period, and many more! We hope to see you there!


3/16 Faculty, Staff & Post-Docs Free Tour: Frist Art Museum Exhibition of Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric

About the Frist - Frist Art Museum

The Jeffrey Gibson: The Body Electric exhibition at Frist runs 2/3-4/23. This major exhibition is devoted to one of today’s leading artists, whose multidisciplinary practice combines aspects of traditional Indigenous art and culture with a modernist visual vocabulary. Faculty, staff, and post-docs are invited to join the Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, with support from the Student Center for Social Justice & Identity and the Studio Arts department, for a free tour of the upcoming exhibition of Jeffrey Gibson’s The Body Electric on 3/16.


Survey: VU+ VUMC Menstrual Products Initiative

Menstrual Products by Sarah Moreau on DribbbleA Vanderbilt medical student is working on a VU/VUMC campus initiative advocating for inclusive, gender-neutral language. Specifically, trying to change the signs on restroom waste bins from their current “Place feminine products here” and visuals of a stick figure in a dress, to a more inclusive label of “Place menstrual products here” with gender-neutral visuals. Please provide feedback about this initiative here.


Vanderbilt Peer Guide Program

The Peer Guide Program | Center for Student Wellbeing | Vanderbilt UniversityHave you heard about the Peer Guide Program? Peer Guides (PGs) are undergrad students trained in wellbeing coaching and program facilitation. PGs bring a shared understanding of Vanderbilt and the student experience in an affirming and judgment-free space. They can help you enhance stress relief skills, learn organizational strategies, hone time management abilities, develop healthy sleep habits, and more! To schedule a PG coaching appointment, email healthydores@vanderbilt.edu or call 615-322-0480.


Vanderbilt’s PRISM Queer Students of Color in STEM (QSOC-STEM) paid research study

PRISM (Power, Resistance & Identity in STEM Education) research lab is recruiting for a paid research opportunity. Undergraduate Black, Latinx, and Asian LGBTQ+ students pursuing STEM majors at Vanderbilt can express their interest as a participant by going the recruitment form. Student participants will be paid $20/hour in online Amazon gift cards.


UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS


Nashville Launch Pad Volunteer Opportunities

Nashville Launch Pad’s Emergency Shelter needs MANY volunteers to make it run smoothly, such as evening shift, laundry service, meals and one-time projects. On-site volunteering in the shelter requires attending a 2 hour training. Please feel free to contact NLP with questions.


3/1 Storytime at Clarksville LGBT Celebration

Storytime at Clarksville LGBT Celebration, 1 March | Event in Clarksville | AllEvents.inJoin Storytime on the Cumberland (with Usborne Books and More) for stories on the rug and all the books at the Victory Pavilion in Liberty Park as we  celebrate and support the community. Find out more here.


3/2-3/4 Unruly Bodies Pedagogy Conference

Unruly Bodies, the second annual pedagogy conference from the Center for Black, Brown, and Queer Studies (BBQ+), will take place March 2-4, 2023. The conference is fully virtual, free to attend, and open to all. You’ll find the experience especially relevant if you engage with pedagogy and teaching in some way, whether within traditional higher education or anywhere else.
This conference seeks to address the following emerging questions in our pedagogical landscape: How can Black, brown, disabled, fat, and queer bodies, consistently under threat, find pleasure and joy? How do we go about showing up in digital spaces, in classrooms, and in intellectual communities with our vulnerable and powerful bodies?


SHINE Strong Training Program

SHINE Strong is a year-long training program for undergraduates interested in developing expertise in HIV prevention science and trans and nonbinary population health research. Submit your application here by 4/14.


3/1-3/31 Tennessee Equality Project Campaigns

Tennessee Equality Project

Follow Tennessee Equality Project’s Campaigns for March to follow weekly advocacy events related to bills affecting LGTBQIA+ people in Tennessee.

AFFINITY GROUPS


Faculty and Staff Affinity Group

This group is a place for employees who identify as LGBTQIA+ and their allies. The LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group, known as the Glammadores, will host regular meetings aimed at providing resources for LGBTQIA+ employees and allies, including social networking, meetups, guest speakers, support navigating workplace interactions and more. For more information or to join, contact Linzie Treadway or Derek Nido


Atzmi Affinity Group

Our Undergraduate Communities | Vanderbilt Hillel

Atzmi is Hillel’s community for LGBTQ+ Jews and Allies. With programming ranging from Jewish learnings on gender identity to drag race watch parties, Atzmi provides space for all our ‘Dores to engage in topics of identity, sexuality, love, and relationships through Jewish texts and perspectives. Connect here.


Bi/Pan/Fluid Affinity Group

A blue square with dark blue tiled edges and a purple rectangle in the upper right corner features the words The Bi/Pan/Fluid affinity group provides a supportive and brave space for people who want to explore bi/pan/fluid or otherwise non-straight/non-heterosexual identities and experiences. Join us for conversation, exploration, and fun! Connect here.


BlackOut Affinity Group

BlackOut is an affinity group that facilitates the coming together of black LGBTQIA+ members of the Vanderbilt community in order to provide support and share space and experiences. BlackOut is co-sponsored by The Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. Connect here.


Queer & Asian Affinity Group

Q and A Queer and Asian Affinity Group logoThe Queer and Asian (Q&A) affinity group provides space for students who are LGBTQIA2S+ and Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander. Join us for resources, conversation, and fun! Connect here.


Willow Affinity Group

WilWillow provides an affirming, open space for women, women-aligned people, and lesbians attracted to other women, women-aligned people, and lesbians to discuss their experiences, share resources, and find a focused, supportive community where their identities are centered. Join us for meetings, movie nights, and more! Connect here.


Plurality Affinity Group

Plurality provides a brave space for LGBTQIA+ people who identify with or are practicing polyamory or consensual non-monogamy. Plurality delves into the history, representations, and skills involved with polyamory and consensual non-monogamy. Join us for resources and discussions! Connect here.


Transgender, GenderQueer, Questioning

TGQ is an affinity group that provides space to discuss the continuum of gender identity and expression, particularly for students who identify across the Trans spectrum, as well as those questioning. Join us for conversation, community, fun, and resources! Connect here.


Ace/Aro Affinity Group

The Ace/Aro affinity group provides a supportive space for people who identify on the asexual and/or aromantic spectrums to discuss their experiences as it relates to navigating both queer and heteronormative spaces. Connect here.


LatinQ Affinity Group

The LatinQ affinity group is an opportunity for people who identify as LGBTQIA+and are Latin American to share resources, build community, and discuss the intersections of all their identities. Connect here.


*Interested in joining a group or being a facilitator? Fill out this form.


Interested in reserving the KCPC for a meeting or event? Complete your request here.

LGBTQI LIFE OPPORTUNITIES


Book a P.R.I.D.E. or Straight Facts Training

Your whole office, classroom or unit can book a 1-hour Straight Facts workshop and/or 3-hour P.R.I.D.E training.

LGBTQI Life Google Calendar

Check out our Google Calendar for all events, drop-in services, etc.

New Discord Server

Request to join our new Discord Server for events, games, movie nights, and more.

LGBTQI Life AnchorLink

Join our AnchorLink to stay up-to-date on all events hosted and co-hosted by the Office of LGBTQI Life.

Newsletter Online

Find previously published and current newsletters online.


TUTORING AND DROP-IN SERVICES


STEM Tutoring

Every Thursday, 3 – 5pm

Make an appointment with a STEM tutor to meet at our KCPC lounge satellite office here.


Continuum: LGBTQI+ Support Group

Every Thursday, 4-5:30pm (virtual)

Continuum is a group for students wishing to give and receive support around sexual identity and/or gender identity. If interested, please contact one of the following UCC staff members:
Kyle Shadrick at aaron.k.shadrick@vanderbilt.edu
Ashley Weber at ashley.c.weber@vanderbilt.edu


Writing Studio

Every Tuesday, 10am – 12pm

Need writing help? Drop in to see a writing tutor in our lounge or make an appointment here.


UCC Drop-In Consultation Hours

Every Monday, 2pm – 4pm

UCC Counselors will be available to students weekly without an appointment during a two hour window every Monday. You can find out more information about drop in consultations here.


OSCC Drop-In Hours

Every Thursday, 10am – 12pm

The Office of Student Care Coordination (OSCC) has weekly satellite hours in our space. OSCC can help with:

  • Planning for a successful semester
  • Identifying and connecting with resources for support on or off-campus
  • Discussing academic options, taking a Medical Leave of Absence (MLOA), and/or assistance with communicating with faculty/Dean’s office
  • Connecting with the University Counseling Center (UCC)

Find out more here.


Global Education Office Hours

Every Tuesday, 2pm – 4pm

Study abroad advisors from the Global Education Office will be present the first Tuesday of every month from 2-4pm to provide drop-in consultations.


VRS Pride Meetings

Every 2nd and 4th Wednesday, 12pm – 1pm

LGBTQI-identified people in recovery or currently struggling with habits that are ultimately detrimental to one’s wellbeing are invited to Vanderbilt Recovery Support group meetings at the Center for Student Wellbeing.

LGBTQI Life  |  Anchor Link
phone: 615-32(2-3330)  |  email

      

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