PRIDE

Mason earns top honors from �� Pride Index

Melanie Balog — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 13:40:00 +0000

Mason earns top honors from �� Pride Index Melanie Balog Thu, 06/02/2022 - 09:40

Mason is one of only 29 universities in the U.S. to receive the highest distinction from the �� Pride Index.

�� has been recognized as a “five-star premier campus” by �� Pride Index, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating safer LGBTQ-friendly learning environments at colleges and universities.

Mason is one of only 29 U.S. institutions, out of 454 evaluated, with a five-star premier ranking, one of only three in the South, and the only one in Virginia.

Additionally, Mason is one of just 40 four-year campuses across the country, and the only public institution in Virginia, recognized by �� Pride in its "Best of the Best" list of LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities in the United States. It also is one of only four institutions nationally to score a perfect 100 on the Athletic Equity Index, which examines how NCAA Division I institutions support LGBTQ student-athletes.

“At a university like ours, which is committed to access and welcoming to all, this sends a huge signal to our existing and prospective students,” said Rose Pascarell, vice president for University Life.

An LGBTQ chalk drawing at Mason.
Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

“Particularly for the LGBTQIA community, students and parents are often looking for signs,” she added. “That ranking sends a message to students and family and friends that Mason is not just trying to create a welcoming environment, but our practices and policies reflect that.”

Mason has been a leader in creating an LGBTQ+-friendly campus.

The university’s LGBTQ+ Resources Center has operated for 20 years and provides leadership and mentoring programs, and a clothing resource for trans and non-binary students. Mason’s student-led Pride Alliance, the oldest of several LGBTQ+ student organizations on campus, is dedicated to ensuring a safe, accepting space for LGBTQ+ students to live and meet.

Mason’s Living Learning Communities, including the LGBTQ+ Living Learning Community, allow like-minded students to live in the same residence hall, fostering connections and creating access to resources. The university also has a gender-inclusive housing policy for students living outside the Learning Community.

And Mason’s long-running annual “Drag Show,” held at the end of Mason’s PRIDE Week in the spring, draws hundreds of students to a celebration of the movement toward human rights for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

“I knew the university promotes a lot of its diversity initiatives,” said William Barker, a freshman cyber security engineering major, who during the next academic year will be the chair of Mason’s Queer Student Leadership Council. “It was a factor because I wanted to make sure I was going to be comfortable at the school I was going to.”

Juniper Mortimer, a rising junior majoring in government and international politics and a peer mentor with the LGBTQ+ Resources Center, said they were bolstered during the pandemic lockdown, when the resources center and Pride Alliance held virtual events so LGBTQ+ students could interact.

“I have been able to make all of my friends and connections,” Mortimer said, “and the Pride Index is a very good indicator that there is a space for anybody on Mason’s ��.”

�� LGBTQ+ Resources Center staff and volunteers at the Capital Pride Festival in Washington, DC.
photo credit: University Life

Most important, said Josh Kinchen, director of the LGBTQ+ Resources Center, is not treating the LGBTQ+ community as a monolith, because it intersects with every demographic.

“We’re working with folks with all the pieces of their identity — undocumented, first-gen, veterans — instead of seeing them only in their sexuality and gender,” Kinchen said. “For an institution of our size and prestige, that is incredibly unique. But we can’t do it any other way, and that’s why we’ve had so much success.”

As for the index, “It shows that there is a true vibrancy here that we can prove.,” he said. “But it’s also a tool for us to hold ourselves accountable to say we have to live up to this now.”

So far, so good, Mortimer said.

“Mason has one of the most accepting and diverse environments I’ve been part of,” they said. “It’s been an amazing experience. If you’re looking for something like that, definitely come to Mason.”

Visit the LGBTQ Resource Center

Events

6/3/2023 Fairfax Pride

8/23/2023 Lavender Orientation

10/2/2023 LGBTQ+ History Month Kickoff

4/30/2024 Pride Week Drag Show

4/23/2024 Lavender & Women and Gender Studies Graduation

Topics

Mason LGBTQ graduates say school encouraged them to tell their stories through film

Colleen Rich — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 12:23:14 +0000

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His work is also his experience

Damian Cristodero — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 09:30:00 +0000

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Pronouns used for a teachable moment

Damian Cristodero — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 09:10:00 +0000

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PRIDE

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Faculty and Staff News

For Mason junior, it's all about creating community

Damian Cristodero — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 09:00:00 +0000

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Leadership

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Students

Making Mason a safe(r) zone

Damian Cristodero — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 09:00:00 +0000

Making Mason a safe(r) zone Damian Cristodero Fri, 06/26/2020 - 05:00

LuLu Géza Kelemen (they/them/theirs) has been ��’s assistant director for LGBTQ+ Resources since 2017. But their history with the office goes back even further.

“[As an undergraduate at Mason] I explored, figured out what I wanted to do, what was important to me, and who I was,” said Géza Kelemen, who majored in integrative studies. “I got to be involved with so many things and one of them was being a Safe Zone facilitator with LGBTQ+ Resources.”

Mason’s Safe Zone Program hosts workshops on issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, allyship, and learning resources, Géza Kelemen said. After earning their bachelor’s degree, they returned to Mason for a master’s in sociology while working as a graduate professional assistant with LGBTQ+ Resources for three years.

“As a student I felt like I could be anything that I wanted,” Géza Kelemen said. “That’s what I want students, LGBTQ+ or not, to feel at Mason.”

Géza Kelemen now runs the Safe Zone Program, and has helped advocate for inclusive polices on campus, such as the LGBTQ+ Living Learning Community, Mason’s recent Chosen Name and Pronouns Policy that streamlines students’ ability to be recognized by the name and pronouns they use, and a new mentoring program for LGBTQ+ and ally first-year students.

It’s about creating spaces where students can feel safer, they said, and that’s also their favorite part of the job.

“I really like working with students,” Géza Kelemen said. “I get a lot of people who come to my office who just need to talk it out a little bit.”

“Having those one-on-one interactions and letting people know that they’re enough is some of the most important work that anyone could be doing,” they said.

It’s what building a community is all about.

Join Mason’s Lambda Alumni chapter for a Pride Trivia Night, June 30, 5-6:30 p.m., via Zoom. Register here.