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 Subject : Lavender Graduation/Celebrations.. 03/17/2020 01:33:26 PM 
Jennifer Iwerks
Posts: 6
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Hi all,

I hope people are faring alright with all the changes, disruptions, anxiety and stress going on relating to COVID-19 and social distancing. I work at JMU, and we have currently suspended all events until April 5th. I feel like this will most likely extend, and I am currently brainstorming ways to support students and celebrate graduation for graduates when we cannot have large events. Does anyone have ideas for ways that we can celebrate our graduates during this time?
 Subject : Re:Lavender Graduation/Celebrations.. 03/17/2020 01:38:30 PM 
Kari Jo Freudigmann
Posts: 7
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Hi Jennifer -

We're in a similar situation. Our programming is cancelled through April 30th (our Lavender Graduation happens in May) and there's a chance it could be extended.

We haven't come up with a perfect solution, but my graduate assistant and I were just discussing still collecting names of graduates so they can receive a stole. We also do our annual Pride Awards during this banquet and we will continue collecting awards nominations and will select those - we just might have to make the announcements through social media or stream rather than in-person.

As things become more clear with what our programming will look like, I will try to update here. :)
 Subject : Re:Lavender Graduation/Celebrations.. 03/17/2020 01:43:36 PM 
Erica Friedman
Posts: 2
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Hi all,

What Kari mentioned is similar to what we are doing at Florida International University in LGBTQA Initiatives.

For Lavender Graduation, we will do our ceremony over Zoom with live speeches, announcement of awards and scholarships, plus recognition of the graduates. We are also playing with the idea of sending packages to the graduates with cute graduate-style giveaways, candy, and the lavender medals we usually give. This is just so they have *something* special to hold and open at the same time during the ceremony.

You can tune in to our live feed today on Instagram @fiulgbtqa to hear more about the programming we are doing!

I'd love to hear what others are up to!

Stay healthy and reaching out!

-Erica-
Associate Director, LGBTQA Initiatives
Florida International University
 Subject : Re:Lavender Graduation/Celebrations.. 03/17/2020 04:45:06 PM 
Cristina Yelvington
Posts: 16
Location
Hi all,
At the University of South Florida, we have gone back and forth between delaying the Lavender Graduation ceremony until the summer and canceling it outright and having Class of 2020 participate with Class of 2021 next year. Either way, there is no perfect answer, and people will inevitably be excluded.
The mayor of Tampa, the first LGBTQ+ mayor in our city, has offered to record a video message to send to graduates. I think something similar to what Erica is doing at FIU would be a great alternative. We considered sending all graduates a package with the rainbow stole, printed certificate, and letters from their loved ones which we solicit before the graduation ceremony and which are usually presented at the graduation ceremony. However, the whole point of Lavender Graduation is to facilitate community - without an event that gives emotional meaning to the items we send, they're just objects. Additionally, if students are discouraged from staying in on-campus residence, sending Lavender Graduation materials to their home address may potentially out them to their family. I would love to hear what others are considering in order to provide the most meaningful experience for our graduates.
We also have Pride Awards at our ceremony. We haven't yet decided how to award these. All public FL universities have fully remote instruction for the rest of the semester. So, these awards would likely have to be mailed as well.
Please stay safe out there!
All the best,
Cristina
Coordinator, LGBTQ+ Initiatives
[email protected]
 Subject : Re:Lavender Graduation/Celebrations.. 03/24/2020 02:14:46 PM 
AJ Young
Posts: 2
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Hi All,

Like everyone else we are still sorting out the details for a virtual Lavender Graduation. Now that we don't have access to our stoles and other giveaways (because we aren't supposed to be accessing the building, mail is not being delivered around campus, or things hadn't been ordered before we started working remotely), we likely won't have our swag in time to mail out to our graduates (but we will distribute that all eventually).

That said, we will definitely be doing social media spotlights for each of our graduates (with their permission, of course) highlighting their accomplishments. We'll also be trying to do a virtual ceremony of some sort that at least includes myself as the Director of the LGBTQ+ Center, the chair of our LGBTQ+ Faculty Staff Council, a representative of the Student Alliance, and someone from the IU LGBTQ+ Alumni Association. We usually have the Chancellor and our Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion speak as well, but we'll see what their schedules look like as we get closer to the end of the term.

Since we will be virtual, I am hoping to use this as an opportunity to engage students from some of the IU regional campuses, who may not have a Lavender Graduation on their specific campus, as well as work with our counterpart center in Bloomington. Not much of a roadmap here, yet, but it feels even more important now to recognize the accomplishments of our graduating students!

Happy to share more of what we end up doing or to hear more about other schools' plans now.

AJ


Dr. AJ Young
Director, LGBTQ+ Center
Indiana University Purdue University - Indianapolis (IUPUI)
[email protected]
 Subject : Re:Lavender Graduation/Celebrations.. 03/30/2020 02:36:30 PM 
Cristina Yelvington
Posts: 16
Location
Hi all,
After conversations with our Lavender Graduation Planning Committee, here's what we have decided to do:
1. Email all participants explaining that Lavender Graduation is canceled this year and that we are deeply sorry.
2. Tell graduates that we will mail them their stoles, certificates, and letters from loved ones. We will allow them to provide a home address, trusted friend's address, or any address they prefer. If they do not have an appropriate address, I have asked them to reach out individually for us to find a solution.
3. We explained that these will likely not be shipped out until the fall, as we do not have access to the materials and our entire city is on a stay at home order.
4. We invited them all to participate in the Spring 2021 ceremony. We will strategize as how to best honor them during this ceremony. We have requested that they bring their stoles with them that they would have received in the mail.
5. We then plan on creating a video to honor their accomplishments. We have set up a Box file for them to drop photos and videos from their time at USF. We will then compile these into a montage and send to all graduates.
6. We still have yet to figure out how we're honoring PRIDE Award and LGBTQ+ Scholarship Award recipients. This will likely be listed on our website.

I hope this provides some ideas or context!
All the best,
Cristina
[email protected]
 Subject : Re:Lavender Graduation/Celebrations.. 03/03/2021 09:02:30 AM 
Casey Lohman
Posts: 1
Location
Hi all!

I work at The College of Wooster, where we are in the planning stages for the 2021 Lavender Celebration. At this time, we are trying to figure out how best to format the ceremony so that it is community-focused while remaining safe. Has anyone had any luck with hybrid or virtual Lavender Celebrations? Are there any insights you could share into creating an effective ceremony? Thank you!

Best,
Casey Lohman
Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs
Graduate Assistant for the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at The College of Wooster
 
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