As a student-funded campus unit, the Pride Center supports LGBTQ+ students and the greater EWU community through advocacy and empowerment, providing community space, delivering programs and events, and facilitating trainings and workshops. We seek to reflect our community, mission, and values in all we do.
Advocacy – We help LGBTQ+ communities and their allies navigate systemic injustices that inhibit a welcoming and inclusive campus environment. We create space for dialogue and activism, empower critical, mindful, and strategic thinking, and utilize resources to advance initiatives and policies that support LGBTQ+ communities as well as the university’s commitment to inclusiveness.
Community Space – On a daily basis, we function as a welcoming and affirming space for all students, regardless of how you identify. Students often use the space to:
- relax between classes (naps are welcome!),
- use the two computer stations to work on assignments and surf the web,
- seek support and information,
- access snacks and meals via our micro food pantry, and
- talk about pressing issues.
We also host the weekly meetings of Eagle Pride, EWU’s LGBTQ+ student organization, on Thursdays at 4pm. Check them out on Facebook!
Programs and Events – Our programs and events are inspired by our students, the needs of the EWU community, and current national and international events. They are designed to build and sustain community, cultivate personal learning and growth, and engage those aspects of identity that inform the whole person—personal, political, social, professional, spiritual, and others. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Lavender Graduation
- National Coming Out Day
- Pride Week
- Student Drag Show
- Transgender Day of Remembrance
- Transgender Day of Visibility
Trainings and Workshops – We acknowledge that creating a socially just, welcoming, and affirming campus environment requires proactive and ongoing learning. With partners from various areas of campus, our trainings and workshops strive to deepen one’s abilities to engage with, honor, and include others because of—not despite—their differences. We are in the process of expanding the number and types of trainings and workshops we offer. Current examples include, but are not limited to:
- Welcoming Project Ally Training
- Beyond the Acronym: LGBTQ+ Climate in the U.S.
- Difficult Dialogues: Asking Tough Questions
- Gender Identity 101
- Inclusion and Diversity: Me, You, Us
- LGBTQ+: A History and Introduction
- LGBTQ+ and the Vote
- LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the Classroom