Pride supporters parade in Rzeszów Poland. June 22nd, 2019. Photo Credit: Silar on Wikimedia
With the recent government mandate on DEI changes, Kennesaw State University (KSU) wasted no time to rebrand an exorbitant amount of its student resources, mainly regarding those that pertained to supporting the university’s diverse and marginalized student population.
This included the dissolution of any and all resources that specifically assisted KSU’s LGBTQ+ student population, such as its LGBTQ resource center, Stonewall Housing and gender-affirming clothing closet.
Once the dust settled on the university’s changing of these resources, many of its LGBTQ+ students were left feeling alone, without community and as if the school had outright abandoned them.
”These centers were never symbolic. They offered community, crisis support, cultural celebration and spaces where students could feel safe and seen,” stated the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), a KSU student organization, in an Instagram post when the DEI changes were first announced.
While many were struggling to make do with what little resources left, other students took it upon themselves to pick up the pieces and create their very own student-run LGBTQ+ resource center—The Kennesaw Pride Center.
Announced in July, and having opened its doors for the first time in August, The Kennesaw Pride Center aims to become a new community hub for its LGBTQ+ students, offering its own assortment of regularly occurring community meetings, workshops, support groups and events.
The center provides a queer-centric library, student lounge and a newly-improved LGBTQ+ community closet for students to utilize as much as they need.
All of this was organized and supported entirely by students at Kennesaw State University without help from the university itself, becoming a powerful testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of this community, especially in the face of adversity.
The new LGBTQ+ community center is an incredibly generous, meaningful and valuable creation on behalf of the Kennesaw Pride Alliance, but there’s only so much it can do without support from the university.
As this new center works to restore this great loss in the community, the fact remains that the university threw them aside at a moment’s notice.
Without university funds, many of the KSU’s LGBTQ-centered resources (Stonewall housing, Safe Space scholarship, etc.) are impossible to replace through a student-run organization.
Regardless, what the university will never be able to replace for its LGBTQ+ student population is the sense of trust and support between them.
