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Lavender tablecloths, centerpieces and balloons adorned a room in Schine Student Center on Sunday for Syracuse University’s annual Lavender Graduation. LGBTQIA+-identifying seniors and graduate students were presented with lavender graduation cords, which they will wear at commencement, by the university’s LGBTQ Resource Center.

“This graduation is a celebration of community and a celebration of LGTBQ accomplishments, which are hidden in history sometimes. To be recognized for our achievements is beautiful,” SU senior Keara Blanton said.

Lavender Graduation, which occurs on college campuses nationwide, celebrates LGBTQIA+ graduating students. It also provides an opportunity for students who are not out to their families and friends to connect with fellow LGBTQIA+ graduates. For the sixth consecutive year, SU graduate and undergraduate students received a certificate and graduation cord at the ceremony, which also featured faculty, alumni and student speakers.

The first Lavender Graduation was held at the University of Michigan in 1995 with three graduates. In 2019, SU’s LGTBQ Resource Center started a new tradition on campus by replacing the Rainbow Banquet awards ceremony with a graduation ceremony, marking the first annual Lavender Graduation.

Abiodun Adeoye, a master’s candidate in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said his undergraduate program did not hold events like Lavender Graduation, nor did it have offerings like the LGBTQ Resource Center. He said the celebration is a great opportunity for inclusivity and recognition of the queer and trans communities on campus.

“Given the legislation being passed around the country to repress all sorts of LGBTQ identities, events like Lavender Graduation give visibility to so many LGBTQ students,” Adeoye said. “It never hurts to include people.”

Sunday’s ceremony included remarks from SU’s Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves, as well as alumni Dashawn Austin, who graduated from SU in 2023. Undergraduate student Sonja Nusser and graduate student Janeice Lopez also spoke.

Nusser, who is graduating with a chemistry degree, spoke about the legacy she hopes to leave behind at SU. She is a staff member at the LGBTQ Resource Center and facilitates Knit 3, a knitting and crochet circle that meets in the resource center every Friday. Joining the group during her freshman year, she immediately felt embraced through discussions with queer elders.

“As a freshman, I really relied on (the resource center) to connect me with people, and pretty much met all of my close friends through these various events,” Nusser said. ”It has been so empowering to be able to create the positivity and support for other folks that I got my freshman year.”

As a freshman, Blanton remembers being very shy and not telling their roommate they were part of the LGBTQ Living Learning Community in Dellplain Hall. They spent a lot of time at the LGBTQ Resource Center and felt grateful to celebrate their graduation with this community, Blanton said.

“It provides a space where you can be you without feeling any judgment,” Blanton said. “SU is such a big school with so many identities and backgrounds. Finding a group of people that you can identify with is hard, and this graduation honors the connections we have all made through this space.”

Published on April 29, 2024 at 8:59 pm