UMass campuses offering segregated Lavender Graduations for LGBTQ-identifying students
Several UMass campuses will be offering the identity-based celebrations.
Holding graduation ceremonies for different identity groups, including ‘Lavender Graduations,’ has become a trend on many campuses.
The University of Massachusetts (UMass) is hosting various Lavender Graduation ceremonies on its campuses for LGBTQ-identifying students this May.
The UMass Boston’s Lavender Graduation is being organized by the Queer Student Center and will take place on May 8. The group says its mission is “to provide a friendly, comfortable destination for gender and sexual minority people, their allies and those who choose not to label themselves. In the process, we work towards a more inclusive and affirming campus for all.”
[RELATED: Harvard DEI office plans another year of segregated graduation ceremonies, finally adds one for Jewish students]
This is not the first year UMass Boston has organized a Lavender Graduation. The Queer Student Center also organized a Lavender Graduation last May that featured “drag performances from local Drag Queens,” as Campus Reform reported then.
UMass Lowell is currently calling on students to register for the school’s sixth annual Lavender Graduation, which will take place on May 7.
The Bromery Center for the Arts at UMass Amherst will have its 26th “Rainbow Graduation” on May 9. Dru Levasseur, the director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, will be the keynote speaker for the event, and graduating students “will receive a certificate, a rainbow tassel, and a copy of the anthology Surviving Transphobia, which features an article by the keynote speaker,” according to UMass Amherst’s website.
UMass Dartmouth will also host a Lavender Graduation on May 1.
[RELATED: Columbia to host segregated graduations again this May]
Lavender Graduations are a common trend on campuses. Earlier this month, Campus Reform reported that Harvard University will provide “‘affinity celebrations’ for graduating students broken down by race, religion, and other identity groups,” including a “Lavender Celebration.” Rutgers University will be hosting a “Rainbow Graduation” as well as an “Undocu Graduation” for illegal immigrants.
Campus Reform contacted the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
