MIT 'Alumnx Pride' set to host special 'Lavender Graduation' for non-straight students
'Alumnx Pride' and the Alumni Association at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are organizing a 'Lavender Graduation' on May 3.
In recent years, numerous colleges and universities around the country have increasingly embraced identity-based graduation ceremonies.
A group that promotes LGBT ideology at a premier university in Cambridge, Massachusetts is set to soon host a special graduation for those students who identify as “LBGTQ+.”
“Alumnx Pride” and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Alumni Association are organizing a “Lavender Graduation” at the beginning of next month.
“The entire MIT community (students, staff, faculty, family, friends) is invited to enjoy and be with us on this date to recognize our grads,” the event’s description page reads. “There will be music, speeches, graduate celebrations, a mini-dance party, and more.”
[RELATED: Columbia to host segregated graduations again this May]
“Alumnx” is intended to be a gender-neutral term for “alumni.” Campus Reform reported that MIT made use of the term as early as 2020.
Alumnx Pride describes its mission as harnessing “the acumen, resources, and influence of MIT’s LGBTQ+ alumni to advance equity and belonging at the Institute, in STEM fields, and within the broader society for our community.”
The group also strives for an “equitable world in which LGBTQ+ alumni, students, staff, and faculty can live authentically, connect through our shared affinity for MIT, and enjoy full inclusion and belonging within our respective fields.”
This year’s Lavender Graduation will be hybrid, taking place both in person and online. In years past, the event had taken place in MIT’s “Rainbow Lounge,” which students can reserve from LGBTQ+ Services, the school’s “intercultural campus resource for diverse gender, romantic, and sexual identities.”
In 2022, Campus Reform reported that the lounge was used for weekly meetings of “Queer Bible Study.”
The Lavender Graduation is not the only identity-based graduation ceremony MIT is hosting this year. The “Black Graduate Celebration” is scheduled to take place on April 19.
[RELATED: UMass Boston’s LGBTQ grad ceremony to feature ‘local Drag Queens’]
In recent years, numerous colleges and universities around the country have increasingly embraced identity-based graduation ceremonies.
Earlier this month, Campus Reform reported that Rutgers University–Newark will be hosting a “Rainbow Graduation” for LGBT-identifying students, as well as an “Undocu Graduation” for illegal immigrant students.
Campus Reform contacted MIT, Alumnx Pride, and the MIT Alumni Association for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.
