The LGBT Resource Center on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale Campus is extending its programming this academic year.

In addition to its ongoing LGBT conferences, support groups and student organizations, the center is introducing the following three new programs: the Freshman Queer Alliance, a support group for first year students, Pipeline, an LGBTA leadership program, and Change U, a social justice training series.

Colette Seguin Beighley, the center’s assistant director, said the programs were created based on student demand.

“Freshman Queer Alliance and Pipeline were developed directly from our focus groups and online surveys we did last year,” she said. “Our ongoing conferences were based off of students’ interests as well.”

Freshman Queer Alliance will meet weekly throughout the fall semester on Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m and begins on Sept. 22. The registration deadline for the program is Sept. 20.

“It’s really sort of a safety net, welcoming program for freshmen on campus,” Seguin Beighley said. “We really want to provide a place for them to get to know each other, to get to know what’s happening with the queer community on campus and also to get to know campus a little bit better.”

Pipeline will hold bi-monthly meetings on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The registration deadline is Friday, and registration forms for both programs can be found at http://www.gvsu.edu/lgbtrc.

Attendance at all sessions is required for both programs. Members of the FQA and Pipeline will have the opportunity to participate in a Spring Break Alternative Experience in Washington, D.C. Seguin Beighley said they plan to visit several LGBTA-rights organizations but will plan the trip around students’ interests.

“It’s an exciting year at the LGBT Resource Center,” she said.

The center’s largest program is Change U, a social justice training series that will occur during the winter semester. The program will meet on Thursdays once a month from January through April. At each meeting, two speakers who work in various social justice movements will discuss how their work intersects.

“It looks at the power of working together and seeing our issues as interconnected, rather than silo-ed work,” Seguin Beighley said.

Registration for Change U opens on Oct. 1 and closes Nov. 1. Change U is also offered as a special topics course, LIB 380: Social Justice Engagement. Students interested in more information can visit http://www.gvsu.edu/socialjustice.

The LGBT Resource Center will also hold a rainbow social on Wednesday. New and returning students are encouraged to join the center in the piano room in Kirkhof for rainbow sherbet and entertainment by Liz Snively of LVNMUZIQ. The resource center’s five student organizations will also be on hand. Students interested in the LGBT Resource Center, its programs or its organizations are encouraged to attend.

The LGBT Resource Center is located in Room 1161 Kirkhof Center.

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