After letters on a sign in the Mod Lot were rearranged to say a homophobic slur last week, members of the Graduate Pride Alliance, GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC), AHANA Leadership Council (ALC), Council for Students with Disabilities, Graduate Students of Color Association, and Graduate Student Association organized a march scheduled for Thursday at 11:30 a.m. to stand in solidarity with queer students, students of color, and students with disabilities.
The march, which will begin at McElroy Commons, is called #SilenceIsViolence, referencing the University’s silence regarding issues that affect marginalized groups of students on campus.
The route will go through O’Neill Plaza and end on Lower Campus. Outside of Robsham, students will have the opportunity to share brief testimonials.
At the march, students will be able to sign a petition for an on-campus LGBTQ resource center. This comes after the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) passed a resolution on Sunday night that called on the University to create an LGBTQ resource center for students.
Both graduate and undergraduate leaders from UGBC, including GLC, CSD, and ALC, began planning the march about a week ago. The protest has been registered with the University.
A Facebook event was created to invite students to join the march, and over 500 students have said that they will attend. On Wednesday night, students held a meeting to make signs to hold during the march.
Collin Pratt, UGBC vice president of diversity and inclusion and MCAS ’17, said that this protest is different from those in the past because of the partnership between graduate and undergraduate students. Pratt is also hoping for turnout from progressive-minded courses, including Black Feminisim 101: Harriet Tubman to Beyonce and Race, Class and Gender.
“I think the ultimate goal of this is to open up dialogue on campus, but also provide a space of healing or catharsis for some of our students who feel like they haven’t had a chance to voice their concerns and grievances yet,” Pratt said.
Featured Image by Julia Hopkins / Heights Editor
