Prom to highlight Campus Pride Week
A night of glitz and glamour in the form of a GLBTQ prom will highlight the second annual Campus Pride Week, set for Monday through Friday at NDSU and MSUM.
Campus Pride Week, sponsored by Ten Percent Society, is a chance for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning students to feel comfortable on campus, said Justin Kutzer, a senior and co-chair of TPS.
“ I think a closeted person would like the fact that there is a group of students out there trying to make the campus a better environment for them, so that way they would feel more inclined to come out,” Kutzer said.
The prom, which began last year, is one way to accomplish that goal.
“ We wanted to give GLBT folks the prom they never really had while having fun with their allied friends,” Aaron Eichenberger, a senior who helped organize the first Campus Pride Week, said.
This year’s prom has a pop stars/Hollywood theme.
“ Folks are encouraged to come dressed as fabulously as the stars themselves,” Eichenberger said.
Campus Pride Week began in 2004, first coined “PrePride Week” as a celebration held prior to similar summer events around the nation. In 2005, it was renamed “Campus Pride Week” because TPS members felt students from areas without summer pride festivals needed their own event.
“ Campus Pride Week is a great opportunity to both raise awareness of the GLBTQ community on campus and to educate the campus community about issues faced by the GLBTQ community,” Eichenberger said.
Eichenberger said since the first event, TPS has grown tremendously in membership and in activity level.
“ Attendance at each of our campus events has also been growing, which I hope means an increased comfort level for GLBTQ folks on campus,” he said.
All week, TPS members will staff information booths and sell T-shirts (reading “Gay? Fine by me”) at the Memorial Union at NDSU and Comstock Memorial Union at MSUM. Other events planned for the week include:
-Monday (Gay and Lesbian Day): Sidewalk chalking at MSUM
-Tuesday (Bisexual Day): “Misconceptions on Bisexuality” presentation at MSUM (5 to 6:30 p.m. Comstock Memorial Union Room 227)
-Wednesday (Queer/Questioning Day): TPS table at MSUM health fair (Comstock Memorial Union ballroom); “But I’m a Cheerleader” movie at NDSU (7 p.m., Century Theater)
-Thursday (Transgender Day): “Being Transgendered in the Fargo-Moorhead Community” panel discussion at MSUM (7 to 8:30 p.m. Comstock Memorial Union, Room 214)
-Friday (Ally Day): GLBTQA prom at NDSU (8 p.m. to midnight, Memorial Union Ballroom)
For more information, visit the TPS Web site at www.fmtps.com.