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By: Gisela P. Vega

Associate Director

MPAS LGBTQA

Initiatives

Well another academic year is behind us and what a year it has been. During the 2015-16 year we celebrated many wonderful accomplishments that we are proud of. We planned and participated in over 100 programs, workshops and events, trained countless staff and faculty through the Safe Zone program and said

goodbye to another graduating class of LGBTQA students at our 1st ever City-wide Lavender Graduation. Thank you to all our volunteers who made this year AMAZING, and a very special heartfelt thank you to Jazmine Clifton, Mario Lara, Dr. Dorret Sawyers, Ashley Grimes, Jeannette Cruz, Giovanna Tello, Justin Smith, Eva Vergara, Barbara Douglas and my amazing WST 3641 students! We couldn’t have done the work we do without the dedication of each of you! Congratulations to Jazmine, who just graduate with her Master in Higher Education from FIU, and will be leaving us to start a new position at Purdue University in Muncie, Indiana. We have already begun planning for next year so stay tuned Remember to please check back on our social media sites for upcoming events and happenings around town. Have a safe summer and we will see you in the Fall!

In this issue

Greetings from the Assoc. Dir. ….p. 1 Spring Semester Events……….…….p. 2 Staff Member Updates ....………… p. 3 Staff/Alumni/ Updates ……….…....p. 4 LGBTQA Committee Updates .……p.5 Upcoming 2016-17 Events ...…....p. 6 MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives MMC GC 216/BBC WUC 253 MMC 305.348.2436/BBC 305.919.5817 MMC Fax 305.348.1911 BBC Fax 305.919.4258 http://mpas.fiu.edu/LGBTQA.html lgbt@fiu.edu

FIU’s LGBTQA INITIATIVES NEWSLETTER Summer 2016 Volume 4 Issue 2

Summer is Here!

FIU’s LGBTQA Initiatives!

The LGBTQA Initiatives mission is to meet the needs of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Ally student population,. We are here to

S.A.V.E. our students!

Support—Create a support system.

Awareness—Provide LGBTQA awareness

Visibility—Create an LGBTQA community .

Education - Education on LGBTQA issues.

Day of Silence at the BBC Campus

Debris Free Beach Cleanup with the Mentors

Program and WST 3641 student

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SPRING 2016 SEMESTER IN REVIEW

Thank you all for an incredible Spring semester. We had an incredible group of volunteers, students, staff, and faculty that made this semester a huge success. Here were some of our highlights!

Volunteered at the Point Foundation Brunch featuring our proud FIU Alum Richard Blanco, also present was Representative David Richardson

Planned two incredible Days of Silence, checkout our youtube videos: FIU Day of Silence 2016

Participated in two amazing beach clean-up with Debris Free Florida and our Mentors Program collecting over 500 pounds of harmful plastics!

Attended and presented 2 workshops at TransconCon held at Barry University

A successful Pride Month with over a dozen events and more than 1,000 participants. Largest contingency once again at Miami Pride with our President Mark Rosenberg and Alum Ilianna Ros-Liethin

A great team at the AIDS walk Miami and raised over $250.00.

Held the first ever Miami City Wide Lavender Graduation! A very special thanks to the Miami Gay Men’s Chorus and Somnio String Quarter for Performing. Congratulations to all our High School and College graduates

Had more than 1,500 hours of LGBT community services in completed by our students .

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By: Jazmine Clifton MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives Graduate Assistant MMC

Having been in the graduate assistant position for a year and a half I have grown tremendously, met many individuals, been able to assist with student development, witness their growth, and embrace the LGBTQA community and be an engaged ally. Our office along with the community partners offer a variety of resources and support to meet the needs of the students. That alone is something that I am proud of because we work hard to make those impacts. This experience has been fulfilling both personally and professionally and I am sad that my time is up. My greatest memory from my time here would have to be attending FCPC in Tampa with the students. I enjoyed that the most because it was my first big breakthrough, impact, and connection with my students. Since then I have been able to witness them grow immensely and learn a great deal of information and life lessons from them. Another memorable time for me would be facilitating a World AIDS Day committee with many on campus and office campus partners. It was a challenge at times during the planning, but the day of the events, it ran smoothly and was an awesome turnout. We had over 100 students, faculty, and stuff in attendance about 203 individuals who got tested. I enjoyed seeing people take advantage of the services and pride in their health by making impactful decisions. I am thankful to have met so many supportive and wonderful people. Without the student volunteers and

LGBTQA STAFF MEMBER UPDATES

A Found Farewell! committee members, I am not sure how I would have made it possible. I have learned a lot about how all of the parts in the community are important to the success of our students. It has been a journey nonetheless and I feel I have acquired so much knowledge as an individual and a professional. I started as an ally and am glad to say that I accomplished my goal of becoming an advocate! Being the graduate advisor for the Stonewall Pride Alliance student organization has changed my life for the better. When I first started I was unsure how I would be able to advise a group of students who were around my same age and knew more about my position than I did. I was nervous, but confident that I would eventually get the hang of the leadership role. I can now say that I have developed a great relationship with my students, developed as a professional and gained confidence is my abilities, learned a great deal from them and also am continuously learning. In the beginning I would say that the environment was rocky due to the changes in the executive board. As time continued, they were able to make changes and begin the year with a new e-board. Since then, they have developed their own curriculum, meeting schedules, and entire day long conference. Hearing their stories and feedback is awesome because I know they are utilizing the resources and taking the initiative to be change agents in the world. Jazmine graduated this year with her Master’s in Higher Education and has accepted a position at Purdue University. We wish her all the best and thank her for an amazing year and a half!

MEET NEXT YEAR’S STAFF

Daniel Capote MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives Intern & Stonewall Pride Alliance President

Daniel Capote is an undergraduate student at Florida International University. He is majoring in Communication Arts

with a minor in Art History. This is his second year as an intern for our office and as President of the Stonewall Pride Alliance, the LGBTQA Student Group. One of his main goals for getting involved on campus was to increase understanding of the Trans community on-campus. He hopes to make FIU an even more inclusive and compassionate space for all people regardless of their gender identity or expression.

Mario Lara MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives

Graduate Assistant BBC

Mario is returning for his second year with us as a second-year in the Higher Education Admin. Master’s program. Mario is a native Miamian. He can’t wait to return to BBC and continue to impact the campus. After a great first year learning and growing he is ready to hit the ground running. He looks forward to Pride Month and the 3D series for the year! He is passionate about LGBTQA issues and loves working with the community. He can’t wait to learn more about the community and how he can make a difference. He is looking forward to meet all the new students!

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MEET NEXT YEAR’S STAFF (continues)

Richard Moreno MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives Graduate Assistant , MMC

Richard is a first-year graduate student in the Higher Education Administration program at FIU. He is originally from Los Angeles, CA and completed his undergraduate education at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) with a degree

in Communication. It was at UCSB where he discovered his passion for social justice advocacy and working with underserved communities. He is interested in working at the LGBTQ Initiatives office because of his passion for LGBTQ community advocacy and working with students to help them succeed in their pursuits. He is excited to incorporate his passion for multiculturalism, social justice, and community building into his graduate assistantship to make a significant impact on the FIU community.

Ashley Phelps MPAS LGBTQA Initiatives Practicum Student Ashley is a second-year graduate student seeking a master of science in Higher Education Administration. She currently serves as the graduate assistant for the International Student and Scholar Services office, and she will be the practicum student for the LGBTQA Initiatives office this Fall. Ashley is interested in working in the office because she has become passionate about working with the LGBTQA student population and wants to make an impact on students lives. Ashley hopes to become more educated on topics surrounding the LGBTQA student population, and to bring awareness and educate the student population of FIU. She is excited about this upcoming year, and looks forward to working in the LGBTQA Initiatives office!

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS

REMEMBERING A VERY SPECIAL FIU PANTHER This Summer FIU lost one of it long time beloved family members, Lourdes Acevedo. Lourdes was an extraordinary Ally to the LGBTQA community, and a true Blue and Gold FIU alumna. She earned her Associates degree from Miami Dade College, and both a Bachelors and a Masters degrees from FIU. She had worked at FIU for years, and had been deeply committed to the mentoring of students during that time. Lourdes was an incredible visible ally that helped many LGBTQA students while at FIU. She was known for always wearing her FIU rainbow pride pin to show her support for our LGBTQA community, and because of it, she he had countless of students open up to her about their concerns. She would always greet you with a big smile and huge hug. Around her our students always felt loved, respected and safe. Lourdes was such an amazing person that impacted so many lives on both a personal and professional level. During her time at FIU she served as a co-chair for our LGBTQA Speaker Bureau and Workshop Sub-Committee. Giving of her time to do classroom presentation and run meetings.

As a way to honor her commitment to the LGBTQA community and FIU, our annual LGBT Ally Award will be renamed in her honor, to the Lourdes Acevedo LGBTQA Ally Award. Thank you Lourdes for all you did for your alma mater, students and colleagues. Her passing is a great loss to us all and she will be greatly missed.

CONGRATS TO ALL OF OUR 2016 LAVENDER GRADUATES!

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For the latest news and events us on FB or visit us at lgbt.fiu.edu

The LGBTQA Training and Development Committee is comprised of three functional sub-committees listed below. We are currently recruiting members, and co-chairs for all of our Sub-committees. If you would like to get involved, please contact the designated co-chairs listed.

The Safe Zone Sub-committee Up-Dates First of all a very special thanks to Dr. Jeannette Cruz who has chaired this committee for the past several years. Her leadership has been invaluable, thank you! She will be turning over the reins of the committee to two of our current Safe Zone members. Congratulations to our New Co-Chairs, Frank Fajardo and Danny Diaz! We are excited to have you both on board. The Safe Zone develops awareness and trains faculty and staff on campus to serve as resources and support networks for our LGBTQA students. Members of this sub-committee train new Safe Zone participants and further enhance and develop the University Safe Zone program. We need interested members to keep the program up to date with scholarly knowledge and trends occurring within the community. If you would like to attend a training, please RSVP through the HR Professional Development Website. You must attend a Safe Zone session before you attend the Train the trainer session. Please contact the Safe Zone Subcommittee co-chairs for more information: Frank at ffajardo@fiu.edu or Danny at ddiaz031@fiu.du

The LGBTQA Speakers Bureau and Workshops Sub-committee This committee focuses on developing the 3D Speaker Series, presenting classroom workshops and helping to identify potential LGBTQA speakers. If your are interested in joining the committee please contact: Gisela P. Vega for more information at xvegag@fiu.edu

Campus Groups and Events Sub-committee This subcommittee focuses on the development of university-wide LGBTQA signature events and initiatives. It is responsible for collaborating with other University LGBTQA organizations on annual signature events including but not limited to: National Coming Out Day, Day of Silence, Lavender Graduation and Student Leaders Recognition Dinner, LGBTQA Mentors Program and the Miami Pride Parade. In addition to these events, this subcommittee will serve as a welcoming place for all other University LGBTQA organizations to connect, network, and program in a collective manner to maximize impact and effort. Please contact the sub-committee Campus Groups & Events Subcommittee co-chairs for more information: Ashley Grimes asgrimes@fiu.edu

THE LGBTQA TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Stonewall Creates Change at FIU!

On April 18 2016, Stonewall Pride Alliance along with

Megan Shade and other committed students hosted The 1st

ever Reproductive Justice Summit at FIU. The Summit

served as a platform to create dialogues around

reproductive justice, while educating ourselves and our

community, and spreading awareness about these

important issues that affect all of us.

The summit consisted of panels, workshops and an safe art

space which highlighted the lives of marginalized persons

and communities.

Congratulations to the committee on a great job!

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