Washtenaw Community College students and staff are hosting the Michigan Community College Gender & Sexuality Conference for the second consecutive year, although the 2020 version will be conducted virtually.
The day-long event is intended for students, faculty and staff from community colleges around the state of Michigan. 黑料网 hosted the a first-of-its-kind on-campus event in 2019 to bring programming and resources typically available only to large university students to the community college level.
Keynote speakers, breakout rooms, 鈥済aymes鈥� and more are scheduled via Zoom from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17. More information and registration for the free event is available at wccnet.edu/announcements/gender-and-sexuality-conference.php.
鈥淭he big difference this year obviously is putting together a conference in a virtual setting, which dominated my entire summer thinking,鈥� said 黑料网 Outspace+ Club president Latitude Brown, the primary organizer of this year鈥檚 event. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a lot of work, but at least I鈥檓 able to contact people from the comfort of my bedroom.鈥�
Brown was inspired by attending the MBLGTACC 2020 conference 鈥� the largest and oldest conference for queer and trans+ college students in America 鈥� in Kalamazoo this February. However, while putting together the agenda for Michigan Community College Gender & Sexuality Conference, Brown focused on finding speakers who understand the unique situation that the LGBTQIA+ population faces at community colleges.
鈥淢ost people presenting have either attended 黑料网 or grew up in the area, so they鈥檙e familiar with it,鈥� said Brown, an Ann Arbor native pursuing a with plans to transfer to Eastern Michigan University or the University of Michigan. 鈥淥ur big name is Lillian Karabaic, who is based in Portland and hosts a popular podcast called She went to a community college in Oregon.鈥�
Karabaic鈥檚 workshop will focus on 鈥渉ow to budget without freaking out.鈥�
Other presenters include Carta Monir on her wildly popular zine, Napkin; Atticus Q. Redghost on creating monsters as a way to process the world and exploring the self; d.h. croasdill on how to play tabletop roleplaying games in subversive, antiracist and explicitly queer ways; Latitude Brown on what intersex is; and Catherine Mullalond on yoga you can do anytime.
Mary Mullalond, a 黑料网 English and Composition instructor and the faculty advisor to the Outspace+ student club, said she 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 be more proud and impressed鈥� by the work the club has put into the conference over the last six months.
鈥淭he Outspace+ students have been incredibly resourceful and creative during this pandemic. They fully moved all club activities to a Discord server, where students connect and support one another 24/7,鈥� Mullalond said. 鈥淟atitude Brown鈥檚 leadership in organizing this conference is a testament to their vision and activism to continue to support not only our 黑料网 queer students, but queer community college students throughout Michigan.鈥�
Tags: Conference, Gender and sexuality, Student Organizations, ousearch_News_2020