What is the Lavender Graduation Recognition Ceremony?
The Lavender Graduation Recognition Ceremony is an annual event sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center in the spring, which recognizes exceptional service, leadership, and activism on behalf of the LGBTQIA community. Awards will honor graduating Seniors and Faculty/Staff members for their outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion at SUNY Oneonta.
From The Human Rights Campaign: "The Lavender Graduation Ceremony was created by Dr. Ronni Sanlo, a Jewish Lesbian, who was denied the opportunity to attend the graduations of her biological children because of her sexual orientation. It was through this experience that she came to understand the pain felt by her students. Encouraged by the Dean of Students at the University of Michigan, Dr. Sanlo designed the first Lavender Graduation Ceremony in 1995. The first Lavender Graduation began at the University of Michigan in 1995, with three graduates.
Lavender is important to LGBTQ history. It is a combination of the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear in concentration camps and the black triangle designating lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany. The LGBTQ civil rights movement took these symbols of hatred and combined them to make symbols and color of pride and community."
How to Participate
If you are graduating in May, August, or December 2024 and are interested in being recognized by receiving a lavender cord and certificate, you can RSVP. SUNY Oneonta employees, alumni, students, and families are welcome to attend.
If you would like to be recognized but cannot/do not want to participate in the ceremony, contact Emily Stewart at Emily.Stewart@oneonta.edu.
Awards
- Extraordinary service and outstanding leadership to support and build the LGBTQIA+ campus community and to promote LGBTQIA+ issues and awareness at SUNY Oneonta;
- Commitment and outstanding contribution to raising awareness and being an activist and voice for change;
- Contribution to and involvement in SUNY Oneonta LGBTQIA+ life and enduring commitment to building community and educating the campus about LGBTQIA+ issues; OR
- Tremendous effort to serve the LGBTQIA+ community through building coalitions across groups at SUNY Oneonta.
- Collaborating with campus organizations, faculty, or administration to implement policies and programs that support transgender students and foster a more inclusive campus environment.
- Active involvement in initiatives or projects that promote transgender visibility, advocacy, and empowerment.
- Commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion, understanding, and support for transgender individuals within the campus community.
- Engaging in outreach and education efforts to combat stereotypes and promote understanding.
- Producing outstanding and engaged intersectional scholarship on trans and gender justice.
- Commitment to using storytelling as a tool for advocacy, education, and empowerment, with a focus on challenging stereotypes, dismantling stigma, and fostering empathy and understanding.
- Been an active member of the SUNY Oneonta LGBTQIA+ community;
- Helped with special projects;
- Raised awareness and participated in activism; OR
- Provided both a safe space and a voice for LGBTQIA+ issues at SUNY Oneonta.
Examples of building connections may include:
- Program/Event planning
- Speaking on LGBTQIA+ issues at events (conferences, programs, etc.)
- Educational engagement on campus (in the classroom, research, etc.)
- Social engagement on campus (student organization involvement, leadership roles, etc.)
- Community service
Connections of broader student life may include:
- Academic Departments
- Experience and Housing
- Athletics
- Greek Life
- Student Association
- GSRC
- Office of Equity and Inclusion
- Admissions
- Office of Student Experience
- Off-Campus organizations
- A research paper/project about LGBTQIA+ identities, communities, cultural production, and/or grounded in queer studies, methods, and theories.
- Work as a research assistant for a faculty project focused on LGBTQIA+ research.
- Work in a course within or related to Queer Studies at SUNY Oneonta.
- A presentation for SUNY Pride or at Student Research & Creative Activity about LGBTQIA+ identities, communities, cultural production, and/or grounded in queer studies, methods, and theories.
- Research and writing for an internship focused on LGBTQIA+ issues.
- Being an active member of SUNY Oneonta LGBTQIA+ community.
- Providing a safe space for LGBTQIA+ student issues at SUNY Oneonta.
- Outstanding contribution to raising awareness of LGBTQIA+ issues in educational initiatives (i.e., in the classroom, in programming efforts, etc.).
Thank you to our sponsors
This ceremony is hosted through the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center in collaboration with The Office of Equity and Inclusion, Women’s and Gender Studies Department, the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association with fiscal support from the Fund for Oneonta, Gender and Sexuality Alliance, and more.