History and Moving Forward

Mission Statement

At Alliance, we are committed to holding conversations, empowering each other, and providing voice to every member of the LGBTQIA+ community. We strive to celebrate all intersecting identities and the unique experiences that our community members bring with them. We hope to inspire the growth of future leaders among the greater Simmons campus.

2019-2020 Changes and Goals

Revision of our organization's mission statement.
Creation of a website for cohesive communication between the executive board and the Simmons community.
Redefinition of the roles of each executive board member, with a strong focus on communication, accountability, and DE&I work.
Requirement for all executive board members to attend at least one approved Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion workshop or event during every semester served on the board.
Explicit commitment to inviting more queer, trans, and gender non-conforming students of color to join the executive board.

Spring 2019

On February 21st 2019, we were able to collaborate with the Black Student Organization to bring Payton Head to campus for a workshop and keynote speech. Learn more about Payton here. This event allowed the members of Alliance to think critically about our roles on campus, and to develop a clear route to making our organization more effective accessible for the entire community.

Fall 2018

In November of 2018, we revived a short-lived Alliance tradition called Ace of Spades. This event, created by Cynthia Miguel '18 in Fall of 2015, is a great opportunity to learn about the asexual/aromantic spectrum of identities by dispelling common myths and potting up your very own little plant friend. The turnout was great, and we were able to have some very meaningful conversations with students surrounding the "A" in LGBTQIA+!

The Safe Zone Project

In Fall of 2013, Alliance sponsored the Safe Zone training for students, staff, and faculty around campus. Safe Zone training provides participants with an understanding of how they can make the campus community into a place where members of the LGBTQIA+ community feel welcomed and appreciated. Although this took place years ago, you can still find Safe Zone stickers on faculty members' office doors and around random spots on campus, put in place to remind the community of the importance of making Simmons a safe place for all.

Day of Silence

GLSEN's Day of Silence takes place during the second week of April. This is a day intended to spread awareness of the frequent silencing of LGBTQIA+ voices throughout history. This typically involves members of the community and our allies electing to remain completely silent for the entire day. While Alliance appreciates the intention behind this event, we have elected to stop participating. This is because of our belief that "silence is violence," and that there is much more to be accomplished through speaking up and advocating. We do not encourage people to hide their voices any day of the year. Nonetheless, we appreciate the impacts that this event has had on our campus and hope that it can continue inspiring evolution and activism among the members of Alliance.

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