The Consortium's Virtual Drive-In and Annual Business Meeting

As a registered 501(c)3, the Consortium is required to host an annual business meeting to offer updates on the current financial status and overall health of the organization with members. For the past several years, we have decided to capitalize on the time we have together to organize a summit around it - the Virtual Drive-In.


Virtual Drive-In 2025

Love, Anger, Grief: the Emotions Powering Our Work

Friday, May 9th, 2025

The 2025 Virtual Drive-In theme is Love, Anger, Grief: the Emotions Powering Our Work. Over and over, these are the three emotions we hear queer and trans resource professionals expressing regarding the current state and future of our work. Love for our students, our impact, our ancestors, and each other. Anger towards our institutions, our government, our society, ourselves. Grief over the progress we have lost, the weight of the coming years, the effort we put in to avoid these outcomes, and the people who have been and will be hurt the most. In a field where we are often asked to either turn our emotions into results or suppress them for the benefit of others, the Virtual Drive-In is a space to honor what we are experiencing and connect with others that understand the complexity of what it is to be a queer and trans resource professional in higher education today.

 

2025 Schedule

Welcome
  8:00 AM PT 9:00 AM MT 10:00 AM CT 11:00 AM ET
"We Were Doing Our Job, And We Got Fired " Keynote Panel
  8:15 AM PT 9:15 AM MT 10:15 AM CT 11:15 AM ET
 

Liz Elsen (they/she), Petey Peterson (he/him), and one other featured panelist

For many Queer and Trans (QT) resource professionals, entry into this work is through a lens of advocacy. It is also true that the history of this profession is a legacy of activism. Anti-DEI state and federal government legislation has impacted our work, members, and Centers. As a result of anti-DEI initiatives, all of the panellists have lost their jobs in a variety of institutions, states, and contexts. This panel discussion features QT professionals subjected to sudden job loss levels at their respective institutions. They will offer insights on their experiences of unexpected and underserved job loss, healing from that trauma, and advice for those facing the same experience.

Break
  9:30 AM PT 10:30 AM MT 11:30 AM CT 12:30 PM ET
Annual Business Meeting
  9:45 AM PT 10:45 AM MT 11:45 AM CT 12:45 PM ET
  The Annual Business Meeting offers a space for the Executive Board to share the state of the organization, recent accomplishments, and current projects. Members have the opportunity to ask questions and share what should be prioritized to best serve the Consortium’s mission. Non-members are welcome to attend to learn more about the inner workings of the Consortium and what you could gain from membership.
Lunch Break
  10:35 AM PT 11:35 AM MT 12:35 AM CT 1:35 PM ET
Workshop Breakouts
  11:20 AM PT 12:20 PM MT 1:20 PM CT 2:20 PM ET
  Attendees of the Virtual Drive-In will have the opportunity to pick between multiple workshops facilitated by Consortium members on various topics relating to the theme of the Drive-In. Information on each available workshop can be found below. Workshops marked with asterisks (*) will be recorded and may be uploaded or shared in the future.
 

*Workshop Option 1 - Queer Rage: What to Do When the Joy Is Not There*

Presented by Vince Tripi (he/him or co/co); Expanding Horizons

Amid exclusion, harassment, and trauma, joy can feel out of reach. LGBTQ+ people have every reason for righteous anger, but rage alone isn’t transformative—it can consume us. By releasing our rage, we reclaim our power, freeing ourselves from complicity in our own harm. This is how we sustain ourselves and build a lasting legacy.

Content Warning(s): Discussion of suicide

 

Workshop Option 2 - Queering and Sustaining Trauma-Informed Practices in the South Amid Anti-DEI Policies

Presented by Dr. Sarah Simi Cohen (they/them/theirs); Independent scholar and researcher; Research and Practice Coordinator for the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals

As anti-DEI policies continue to infiltrate Southern states, many institutions are scaling back or eliminating initiatives that support structurally marginalized communities. Many institutions in the North believed they would not be impacted, nonetheless, they are beginning to also reap the negative affects of these policies and the broader sociopolitical climate. However, trauma-informed approaches remain essential in fostering safety, trust, and empowerment—especially for queer and trans students, faculty, and staff. This session will explore how individuals can integrate trauma-informed practices within higher education despite institutional barriers, focusing on grassroots strategies that emphasize community care, mutual aid, and intersectional resistance.

Recognizing that resistance is deeply intertwined with grief, we will also hold space for how loss—of resources, safety, and institutional recognition—shapes our work. Drawing from queer and trans histories, we will explore how grief has long been a catalyst for collective care and organizing, offering strategies to navigate the emotional toll of these policy shifts while sustaining ourselves and our communities. Participants will engage with SAMHSA’s trauma-informed framework, discuss the impacts of anti-DEI legislation, and brainstorm ways to sustain support systems in restrictive environments. This session is particularly relevant for those committed to queering institutional structures, fostering resilience, and reimagining inclusive practices in the South and beyond.

Content Warning(s): Anti-DEI and oppressive legislation, trauma-informed/talks of trauma broadly

 

*Workshop Option 3 - The Art of Coalition Building: Addressing Loneliness and Sustaining Change*

Presented by Jimmy Luckman (he/him/his); Director of the LGBTQA+ Center at Pace University

How do we move forward when we are feeling an immense amount of change, fear, anger, and/or loneliness? Best practices within higher education point towards coalition building to generate change, however the art of coalition building must embrace a queerficiation in order to create an authentic, affirming, and safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. We must also redefine and reapproach the ways in which we engage in coalition building, that reflects the changes in policies, practices, and procedures on a local, state, and federal level. Often higher education has relied on coalition building for sharing resources and knowledge, but the art of coalition building needs to embrace love, while recognizing the hate, anger, and grief that brings people together to address concerns to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This presentation will provide a historical review of coalition building, potential "best practices", personal vignettes from the presenter as they co-lead an LGBTQA+ subcommittee that is a part of a larger Federal Administration Transition Taskforce, and provide participants with creative ways to address coalition building that moves beyond sharing knowledge, ideas, and resources towards one that focuses on love, hope, and community building.

This session is open to all individuals, as coalition building is not just for those that are leading coalitions, committees, or taskforces. The intentionality of this presentation is for those that are currently leading, a part of, or aspire to create coalitions to address the needs, desires, and wants of the LGBTQA+ community. The ideal audience focuses on those that are interested and willing to engage in reflection and explore how they can transform their way of processing coalition building to curate a more inclusive and liberatory space in both the present and future.

No content warnings shared

Break
  12:20 PM PT 1:20 PM MT 2:20 PM CT 3:30 PM ET
Discussions and Activities
  12:30 PM PT 1:30 PM MT 2:30 PM CT 3:30 PM ET
  One of the organizers of the Virtual Drive-In will be leading a vision-planning activity for attendees, offering a space to be in community with individuals who get how difficult, yet necessary, dreaming about the future is. A separate breakout room will be held for open discussion on some key topics if dialogue is your preferred vision-planning medium.
Break
  1:15 PM PT 2:15 PM MT 3:15 PM CT 4:15 PM ET
Consortium Awards Ceremony
  1:30 PM PT 2:30 PM MT 3:30 PM CT 4:30 PM ET
  Each year, the Consortium presents awards in three categories. These awards recognize the people and achievements in the field of higher education LGBTQ+ student support. Nominations are submitted by members of the Consortium and others who want to ensure that the work we do does not go unnoticed, as it often does. Join us in celebrating the nominees and winners of these awards as examples of some of the amazing work being done by our colleagues and friends.
Attendee Social
  1:50 PM PT 2:50 PM MT 3:50 PM CT 4:50 PM ET
  Take a minute to have some fun with virtual karaoke! This is a thinking-light opportunity to get to know each other better and bring a little joy into the day.
Regional Breakouts
  2:15 PM PT 3:15 PM MT 4:15 PM CT 5:15 PM ET
  A recurring theme of many of the conversations had within the field is the need for spaces for the people doing this work to connect. People doing and supporting LGBTQ+ resource work on and off campus are often isolated, misunderstood, and expected to operate without much support or guidance. This time is dedicated to bringing us all together to discuss pressing topics and build relationships with professionals in other institutions and organizations.

During this time, breakout rooms will be made available for you to connect with others in your and neighboring Consortium regions, as well as receive resources related to areas of concern members have brought up over the past year. See a map of the regions here!