By Jordan Green
UNIVERSITY CENTER – Instead of roaming the halls at Delta College to view the timeline of LGBTQ icons, students are able to access it virtually as Unison – Delta College’s LGBTQ student awareness organization – continues their scheduled LGBTQ pride month.
Alison Ginter, Unison advisor and coordinator of Campus Life and Student Engagement at Delta College, says she’s been in contact with the Unison “crew” to work on making their events virtual.
“Next week, we’re doing a Zoom virtual LGBTQ awareness event, so anyone can participate,” says Ginter. “It’s just a question and answer session, and just keeps people engaged.”
In addition to celebrating Pride Month and bringing awareness to Delta College’s campus, Unison also focuses on specific theme days. The organization provides awareness for Transgender Day of Remembrance, Lesbian Awareness Day, Gay Awareness Day and Bisexual Awareness Day. Unison supplements the days with informational tables set up around campus.
An April-Pride exclusive path that winds through Delta’s hallways displaying LGBTQ icons and their accomplishments is visible online. Students are able to click on a picture of a well-known LGBTQ figure and read a description to learn more about LGBTQ leaders.
The national LGBTQ Pride month is held in June, but with the smaller student population during the summer months, Unison decided to hold their own pride month annually in April, before the winter semester lets out. The month is typically filled with educational tables, awareness campaigns and available resources.
Along with Unison, Delta provides Safe Space, a program where faculty and staff are trained on different subjects in the LGBTQ community; for example, talking to a student for support, being an ally or showing support for the community. The faculty member or teacher then places a Safe Space sticker on their office door indicating that they’ve been trained with Safe Space.
Unison’s mission is to provide students with a safe space in the LGBTQ community. Ginter says that she, along with organization president Hannah Kinsman, want to create an organization that is open to all students and for those who may be struggling in the LGBTQ community.
“Our biggest thing is about creating awareness, but also creating a very safe space and creating a community where people could come together and be comfortable,” says Ginter. “Because sometimes it’s a struggle for some people.”
To join the student-led club, email Alison Ginter. Meetings are held weekly, and for students who are looking for a flexible organization to join on campus, class schedules will be taken into consideration at the beginning of the semester to ensure participation for all group members.
Alison Ginter Contact:
Email: alisonginter@delta.edu
Phone: (989) 686-9121
Student and Civic Engagement
Delta College’s Unison Student Organization does provide a lot of programming throughout the LGBTQ+ Awareness Month and also through out the year but Prism, the staff and faculty group, bring many of the Awareness events as well. Prism is responsible for the many icons that are set out throughout the hallways and much of the programming each year to help with the celebration.