clothing, footwear, and accessories for others to be re-homed within the community. Any students are welcome to come and take any items that speak to them.
The Lavender Fund is a relatively new, alumni-driven fundraising effort that supports the MCLA LGBTQIA + community. These funds are utilized to bring LGBTQIA + community speakers to campus, send students to attend LGBTQIA + conferences, and sponsor student trips to historic and influential locations associated with the LGBTQIA + civil rights movement, as well as make identity affirmative items available to students in the affirmation closet that would be less likely to be donated, such as binders or make-up items.
Williams College
Williams offers a major in Women’ s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, which can be defined as the study of how gender is constructed; how it is inflected by differences of race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and so on; how gender affects people’ s experiences and situations; and how assumptions about gender influence the construction of knowledge and experience. The major requires coursework in LGBTQ + studies, such as Black Trans Studies; Black Queer Looks; Gender, Race, Beauty, Power; Queer in the City; Gay Male Subcultures; Queer Linguistics; Sexuality in U. S. Modernisms; and more.
The majority of LGBTQ + programming at Williams takes place during the academic year. The Davis Center supports two student groups that put on a large amount of programming and community events: The Queer Student Union, dedicated to support for the LGBTQ + student community on campus, and The Quare Collective, a student group dedicated to empowering Black queer people on and off campus. Many other MinCo groups on campus also put on programming that engages with LGBTQ + issues and topics, as do many academic departments and other units across campus. In May, The Davis Center hosts our annual Rainbow Graduation, which is an event celebrating the journeys and accomplishments of LGBTQ + graduating seniors at Williams.
Additionally, there are two campus committees focused on LGBTQ + issues and support. The Michael A. Dively’ 61 Committee for Human Sexuality and Diversity stages public programming throughout the academic year, and also administers a competitive student summer opportunity grant for students pursuing projects or internships focused on LGBTQ + issues and topics. To foster community outreach, The Dively Committee sometimes collaborates with local community partners such as the Northern Berkshire Trans Meetup group and North Adams Pride, among others. The Office for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion also houses the Trans Inclusion Committee, which is dedicated to designing and sustaining an inclusive environment for transgender and non-binary members of the Williams community. n
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May / June 2023 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 69