Midwestern University Celebrates Pride Month with Tie-Dye Event
Midwestern University Offices of Student Services and the Gender and Sexuality Alliance hosted tie-dyeing events on both Glendale and Downers Grove campuses for faculty, staff, and students.
On June 21 and June 27, the Midwestern University Offices of Student Services and the Gender and Sexuality Alliance hosted tie-dyeing events on both Glendale and Downers Grove campuses for faculty, staff, and students.
Since June 1970, LGBTQ+ people have gathered together in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan and demonstrate for equal rights, originally holding events on the last weekend of the month. In major cities across the U.S., the one-day march soon grew to encompass a week-long event, and later a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia, and concerts. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community of all sexual orientations and gender identities who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the commemorative month is to celebrate love and acceptance, promote equality and visibility, and recognize the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community.
To celebrate the diversity of Midwestern University’s campuses, students, faculty, and staff came together to create tie-dye t-shirts to mimic the rainbow, which is the official symbol of Pride. Participants also created buttons with their preferred pronouns, which break the ice around the topic and encourage people to have conversations about their identities.
“As future healthcare professionals, we’re going to get a lot of opportunities to work with different communities, so it is important to always be aware that there are people who are different from you. Try your hardest to educate yourself on what people are experiencing because this will help you become a better clinician.” – Ghiamaka Ihejirika, Clinical Psychology Program Student ‘26, College of Health Sciences – Downers Grove.
Both events were well attended, and the Glendale Campus raised over $100 in donations for One–N-Ten, a nonprofit organization working to build a strong support system for LGBTQIA youth in Arizona. Midwestern University President and Chief Executive Officer. Kathleen H. Goeppinger, Ph.D., participated in the celebration.
