USC Celebrates Pride Month 2022
The academic year may have just ended and the summer is heating up, but Pride at USC is just getting started. USC has made sure that June will be full of pride celebrations, conversations, and events for the whole community. This year, USC celebrates ‘The Power of Community’ as its theme for Pride. Starting on June 1st, USC will host a variety of virtual and in-person events to empower our students, faculty, and staff in the LGBTQ+ community.
Here are just some of the events that USC will host to celebrate and commemorate pride this month:
Pride Month Celebration: Faculty, staff, students, and USC community members join President Carol L. Folt to kick-off the University’s month-long celebration of Pride Month and the Power of Community.
Progress Pride Flag at Keck Hospital of USC: After the Pride Month Celebration kick-off with President Folt, Keck Hospital of USC will raise the Progress Pride Flag at the front of the hospital where it will remain for the entire month of June.
Keck Pride & L.A. Pride: Keck Pride, which is for faculty, staff, and patients, will join the 52nd L.A. Pride Parade on June 12th.
2022 Morgan Stanley Asia LGBTQ+ Allies Virtual Coffee Chat: This virtual networking event gives current LGBTQ+ and Allied USC students the ability to network with current Morgan Stanley employees from the company’s Asia Pride and ally networks.
Beyond celebrating Pride month, USC is committed to celebrating gender and sexual diversity every day of the year. The LGBTQ+ Student Center is the main LGBTQ+ hub on campus for students to seek support and build community. The center, which is located on the fourth floor of the Student Union Building, features the Lavender Lounge, a gathering space where students can spend time together, enjoy free printing, and indulge in free coffee and tea.
The center also hosts a few student groups, including the First-year Advocacy Board (FAB), a group open to both first-year and transfer students and that focuses on helping students with the transition to USC. This is a wonderful way to get involved with the center right away. In addition to FAB, the center is home to a few other affinity groups that hosts weekly meetings and conversations.
Bi+ Spaces: A closed group for students who identify as bisexual, polysexual, pansexual, and/or another non-monosexual identity
Queer Fandom Fanatics: A space open to all to connect and “geek out” about pop culture.
QTPOC (Queer/Trans Person of Color) Lounge: A closed space to QTPOC-identified USC students to connect and build community.
Rainbow International: A closed space for international students who identify as LGBTQ+ to discuss their queer experiences around the world.
Queer Book Club: QUATRO (Queer and Ally Trojan Readers Online): This an open book club for all USC students; the group reads and discusses one LGBTQ+ book per semester.
Beyond the Binary: Beyond the Binary (formerly GNAF) is an intentional space for our Trans and Gender Nonconforming/Questioning USC students (& friends!) to get to know one another, destress, and debrief, as well as have a place to call their own, all while actively abolishing the binary and other oppressive systems.
Ace/Aro+ Space: An intentional space for students who identify as asexual, aromantic, demisexual, or anywhere on the ace and/or aro spectrums.
Check out the LGBTQ+ Student Center on social.
As a prospective or incoming student, you might be wondering about the kinds of other programs and resources that USC has to offer around the LGBTQ+ community.
You might want to check out some additional groups and resources for members of the Trojan Family:
Academic Organizations: QuASA, or the Queer and Ally Student Assembly, is one of the Cultural Assemblies within Program Board. As a Cultural Assembly, QuASA serves as the umbrella organization for Queer student groups. The Rainbow Floor, one of our special interest residential communities; Queer Students in Cinematic Arts (QSCA), an LGBTQ Film Club in the School of Cinematic Arts; Queers in Engineering, Science, and Technology (QuEST), a networking club for LGBTQ students studying a STEM field
Mentorship Opportunities: LGBT Peer Mentoring Program allows current USC students to work with a caring, dynamic peer mentor on personal, social, academic, career and lifestyle goals.
Professional Resources: OUTLaw, a networking club for LGBTQ+ students interested in pursuing Law; and Trojan Alliance, a pre-professional association aimed at bringing networking opportunities and resources to LGBTQ students at USC.
Social Organizations: MedLambda: LGBTQIA+ Student Interest Group, a group that supports LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff in the health sciences through social events, activism, and programming; and Transgender Advocacy Group, a student-run organization for transgender USC students and their cisgender allies to mingle, discuss, and dismantle transphobia.
For more information about the LGBTQ+ Student Center, programs, student organizations, and more, visit the LGBTQ+ Student Center website at https://lgbtrc.usc.edu/ and the Campus Organizations website for a full list of all registered USC clubs and organizations at https://campusactivities.usc.edu/organizations/.
Written by:
Dylan Goodwill, Assistant Director - USC Office of Admission
Jamie Black, Assistant Director - USC Office of Admission