President Ed Seidel and the new VP for Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Zebadiah Hall, hosted the first-ever LGBTQIAP2S+ meet and greet reception on March 21 at the Wildcatter Club.
Over 100 people from across the campus, as well as the state, gathered to learn more about what the president and his cabinet plan to do to support the community going forward.
This event is the first of its kind, but the president is hopeful it will not be the last.
“I think the event really achieved the president’s goal of highlighting the LGBTQ+ community. I think that both individually and collectively, that community makes incredible contributions to UW that can’t be understated,” Chief of Staff Kelsey Kyne said.
“And the President was really happy to be able to highlight that. He was thrilled to not only provide welcoming remarks but have lots of other folks from the community have an opportunity to address others, and so I think it really met this goal of highlighting and celebrating this important community.”
Zebadiah Hall echoed similar thoughts on the event and its purpose.
“This event is for people who belong and matter, and we want everybody in our community to feel welcome. We have a history that we need to be restorative about so we can be righteous about our future.”
The event hosted many different guest speakers from the Queer Community Colloiton (QCC), The Shepard Symposium, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Laramie Pride Fest, Multicultural Affairs, and different offices across the UW campus.
Some members from each organization took time during the reception to speak about personal experiences from the LGBTQ+ community and what they hope to see come to fruition in the future.
“Tonight has been an inspiring event for us, and I’m proud of what you do and what you bring to the university. I just wanted to say that from the bottom of my heart, and I wanted to say that we’re here for you,” Seidel said.
“We know it’s not easy. You know better than I do, and I want to hear from you how we can help move this entire movement forward.”
Given both recent and older events negatively targeting the LGBTQ+ community on the UW campus in conjunction with the president’s attendance, safety was a concern for the meet and greet. The location was only given out to those who RSVP’d, and the event organizers hired Landmark security to ensure no problems arose.
“With most events that the President hosts, we do have a safety protocol that we hope we never need to use but is in place just in case things don’t go according to plan. That protocol was in place for this event, we certainly did not need it, but we always think about safety first for every event, and the event last night was no exception,” Kyne said.
Multicultural Affairs Gender and Sexuality Program Coordinator Wolfgang felt the care and safety put into place meant a great deal to all attendees.
“It was a long time coming to get to this event, and I really appreciate having the space and having the security of this venue, especially with landmark security,” Tyler said. “The struggle is real hosting queer events with the political climate that we have currently today.”
Kyne emphasized Seidel’s ambition to work with groups all across campus.
“I certainly think that the president has a great desire to connect with all sorts of folks at UW, and I hope that we can make this an annual tradition of hosting the LGBTQ+ community,” Kyne said.
“He just comes away so lifted up and energized by being able to connect with folks, and so I urge anyone at UW to come to those events and engage with the president.”
The next time students and staff will have a chance to engage with him is on April 5, during his monthly coffee meeting at Rendezvous.
