by Marly Solebello, M.Ed.
Queering is the process of reaching outside our usual confines, of subverting the known and wading into possibility. It is a radical current that challenges us to create new by breaking down the barriers between us. Queering UNE COM means interrupting the way we think about the margins we operate within and highlighting the intersectionality of our constructed identities, whether we be students, faculty and professional staff. Even at UNE, we reaffirm harmful paradigms that confine and prevent us from seeing one another. Too often, professional staff are an afterthought- a cacophony of voices rendered invisible or included as subtext. This is not just a COM problem- it’s a human one.
Just as the osteopathic principles teach us that structure and function are reciprocally interrelated, the health and wellbeing of our college is tied to our treatment (tx) of one another. To treat everyone with dignity, we must tap into our humanity and harness a sense of wonderment for one another. To step outside the box of what is known, we have to wonder about and want possibility.
This is what it means to be queer.
As a queer, professional staff member, I occupy particular performative roles, but my positionality is an incomplete reflection of this fluid, messy embodiment—of this mind, body and soul. The experiences I bring, the ideas I voice, this body of knowledge that I bring to my professional position, are inextricably rooted in queerness. This is me. I want to also know you.
With this project, I hope to challenge your perception and inclusion of professional staff at UNE COM, and, more specifically, to inspire meaningful interactions with one another—to challenge us to interact in ways that are unpredictable, radical, and unscripted. By sharing thoughts and pictures of my queer self, I hope to render myself visible and stretch what is comfortable or complacent. I hope to reveal the person behind rankism & class, beyond barbaric binaries, constrictive categorization, and destructive dichotomies. I urge us to really see one another, and occupy unexplored, queer spaces.
ArtCOM
Last spring, the UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine held ArtCOM, a showcase of art pieces created by our UNE COM community. 36 pieces were submitted by UNE COM students, faculty, professional staff and their families. Over 70 attendees voted for the work of art that best embodied this year’s theme, “The UNE COM We Strive to Be.” The piece. "Queering UNE COM" received 3rd place at the event and was dipslayed in Stella Maris for the remainder of the semester.