Lambda Alliance News

From Dawn Androphy, C’15, Chair of the Lambda Alliance

Dear Alumni Community:

It hasn't been too long since the last newsletter, but the undergraduate LGBTQ community at Penn has certainly fit a lot of great programming and discussions in the brief window of time since I last wrote. The middle of the school year is always an exciting time because Lambda Alliance and many of our constituent groups have had elections and selected our new boards for the calendar year. If you're interested in getting to know the mostly-new Lambda Alliance board, definitely check out our website (we've designed a snazzy new logo and added a bio section with information about our board members).

The new Lambda Alliance board has been keeping very busy thus far in our term. Lambda Alliance Vice Chair of Political Affairs Roderick Cook, C’16 has taken on the tremendous task of directing a statewide Youth Action Conference by and for Pennsylvania youth centering around transgender issues to be held at Penn the weekend of February 14-16. Additionally, the entire Lambda Alliance board (and members from our 2013 board) came together to cosponsor an event with the Vagina Monologues on January 30. The event was called "Bare: A Fashion Show to End Rape Culture" and other cosponsors included Fiji, ASAP, One in Four, and Penn Non-Cis. The event was advertised as a new kind of fashion show with members of the Penn community, founded and grown on the basis of self-expression and putting an end to victim blaming. The models for the evening included individuals representing a variety of gender identities and was all-around a very powerful and fun evening.

Lambda Alliance's amazing IvyQ Delegates Jay Gill, C’15 and Tyler Baldor, C’14 have done an excellent job of representing Penn and planning the annual IvyQ conference. This year's conference took place at Princeton University from February 6-9 and the keynote speaker was the incredible Janet Mock (last seen as the QPenn 2013 Keynote Speaker... clearly Penn is a bit of a trendsetter). This year, approximately 60 Penn students registered to attend the conference. More information about IvyQ can be found here.

Queer People of Color (QPOC) held their first event of the semester. It was a relatively low-key meet-and-greet to introduce people to the board and organization as a whole. QPOC also held a film screening for MLK week and continues to foster dialogue about the intersection between the queer and people of color communities at Penn.

The Wharton Alliance continued its impressive track record of hosting a multitude of on-campus recruiting events for undergraduate students interest in business. Additionally, they hosted Consulting 101 and Finance 101 events featuring student and alum panels that offered students currently going through the recruiting process valuable advice about what it is actually like to work in these industries.

Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia has been extending its presence to the Philadelphia community and co-hosted a viewing party for the Opening Ceremonies of the Sochi Olympic Games at the William Way Center with GO! Athletes in collaboration with Pride House International. The event featured a strong turnout of student and adult LGBTQ athletes and allies as part of Pride House International's movement to show support for LGBTQ athletes in Russia while strengthening the relationship between collegiate and adult LGBTQ athletes in Philadelphia.

J-Bagel has continued its mission of fostering dialogue between the Hillel and LGBTQ communities by hosting regular Shabbat dinners and a movie screening this semester. Penn Non-Cis, an affiliated group, has been continuing its tradition of creating a safe space for students who want to discuss gender identity and/or are questioning their gender. Their weekly safe spaces have been a vital resource for many individuals in the Penn community.

Best,

Dawn

From Ted Kreider, C’10, G’10, GR’18, M’18, President of Lambda Grads

Alumni:

Lambda Grads has had an exciting start to the spring semester! We just hosted our first Lambda Grads Dinner in which we united representatives from across graduate and professional schools to have a conversation about plans for the upcoming semester. As a group we have decided to plan a charity date auction to raise money for the Attic Youth Center. We will also be partaking in QPenn Week, hosting a Joint Lambda-PennGALA happy hour during the last week of March. Keep an eye out for these upcoming events and learn more about what we’re up to by visiting our website.

Your Lambda Grads Board

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