Celebrating Pride Month at Augustana College with visibility, solidarity and joy

At Augustana College, Pride Month is more than a celebration. It's a reflection of our year-round commitment to affirming, uplifting and standing in solidarity with our lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LBGTQIA+) community. 

Each June, and throughout the academic year, we honor the identities and stories of our LGBTQIA+ students, faculty, staff and alumni by creating spaces of belonging, empowerment and joy.

Pride is a joyful resistance. It’s about visibility, advocacy and the celebration of authentic lives. At Augustana, we don’t limit this celebration to one month. This past school year, our campus came alive with powerful programming that reflected the diversity, strength and creativity of the LGBTQIA+ community:

• Queer Coffee and Queer Connections created consistent, welcoming spaces for students to gather, build community and find support as well as resources.
• We launched LGBTQ+ History Month with Queerly Beloved, an event that set the tone for reflection and celebration.
• On National Coming Out Day, we held space for students to share stories and affirm their identities in community.
• We honored lives lost and renewed our commitment to advocacy during Transgender Day of Remembrance.
• We welcomed author Joe Chianakas for Pride and Persistence, a powerful conversation on queer identity, creativity and resilience.
• ValenPride brought color, crafts and connection to February in celebration of queer love and friendship.
• Our annual Night of Noise Drag Show lit up the stage in an evening of celebration and self-expression.
• We closed the year with a historic milestone: Augustana’s very first Lavender Graduation, honoring graduating LGBTQIA+ students and their remarkable impact on campus.

These events and the teams of people behind them demonstrate that Pride at Augustana is not a moment, but a movement. Pride lives in the small, intentional acts of inclusion and the bold, public affirmations of identity. 

It's in the programming that educates and empowers. It’s in the conversations that challenge and change us. And it’s in the commitment to keep building a campus where LGBTQIA+ students not only survive, but thrive.

This is what a movement looks like: persistent, rooted in community and driven by love.

As we celebrate Pride Month, we reflect on our shared progress, uplift our community's voices and look forward to another year of celebration, education and advocacy. We invite every member of our community, whether LGBTQIA+ or an ally, to join us in this ongoing work.

At Augustana, pride lives here all year long. Happy Pride!