UC San Diego hosting 'LGBTQIA+ Community Welcome' orientation event
The University of California, San Diego’s LGBT Resource Center is organizing an identity-based freshman orientation event for LGBTQ-identifying students.
The event will occur on Wednesday, Sept. 25 — during UC San Diego’s 'Welcome Week' for incoming freshmen and transfer students.
The University of California, San Diego’s LGBT Resource Center is organizing an identity-based freshman orientation event for LGBTQ-identifying students.
The event will occur on Wednesday, Sept. 25 — during UC San Diego’s “Welcome Week” for incoming freshmen and transfer students.
“Our annual LGBTQIA+ Community Welcome event for first year and new transfer students that are part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual + (LGBTQIA+) community happens every fall during Welcome Week,” the school writes.
[RELATED: UVA Multicultural Student Services hosts four identity-based orientation events]
This is not the first time UC San Diego has had identity-based orientation events. Campus Reform reported in 2022 that the university held racially segregated freshman orientation programs, such as “Black, Latinx, and Native American Family Orientation” and “Black Surf Week.”
Last year, the school held graduation events such as “Black Graduation” and “Xicanx/Latinx Graduation.”
The university’s LGBT Resource Center’s “LGBTQIA+ Community Welcome” kicks off the school’s LGBT-themed annual events. The center also recognizes the “Trans Day of Remembrance” and holds a “Rainbow Graduation” for graduating LGBT-identifying students.
Earlier this year, the center hosted an event called “Compulsory Heterosexuality,” describing it as a “Gender Buffet series.” Attendees discussed “Compulsory Heterosexuality and queer women living in a patriarchal society,” per a description.
On Aug. 17, Campus Reform reported that the University of Chicago was organizing “pre-orientation” events for “Students of Color” and LGBT-identifying students for the beginning of the fall semester.
In 2022, a Speech First report revealed the large extent to which public university orientation materials emphasized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles. As Campus Reform reported at the time, the materials emphasized “microaggressions, anti-racism, trigger warnings, bias, racial equity, DEI training, and discrimination,” but largely excluded any mention of freedom of speech.
During the spring semester, Campus Reform noted many mainstream colleges and universities offering identity-based graduations, including those at Rutgers University, Montana State University, Northern Illinois University, and the University of North Dakota.
Campus Reform contacted UC San Diego and the LGBT Resource Center for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
