The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, along with campus partners and student leaders, hosts a wide array of LGBTQ+ events and programs, which are often open to not only Kenyon students, faculty, staff, and alumni, but also to the broader surrounding community community.
At Kenyon, we also strive to ensure that our LGBTQ+ programming reflects the broader diversity of this unique community. As such, many of our events are collaborative in nature and seek to highlight a number of diverse genders, sexualities and intersectional identities.
Recurring Programs
Below, you can explore some details about our largest recurring events. However, please note that Kenyon also recognizes and programs for a number of additional days and weeks of significance to the LGBTQ+ community.
As such, programming around National Coming Out Day, Ace Week, Transgender Day of Remembrance/Resilience, World AIDS Day, Aro Week, LGBTQ+ Health Awareness Week, Trans Day of Visibility, Pride Month, and much more occurs annually. LGBTQ+ programming also regularly occurs throughout other heritage month celebrations, such as Latinx Heritage Month, Indigenous Heritage Month, Black History Month, and more.
Founded in 1994, LGBTQ+ History Month is an annual month to recognize the history of the broader LGBTQ+ community. During this heritage month, the college annually hosts a program for National Coming Out Day among many other programs like podcast episodes with the Kenyon Review and group excursions to the Equitas Health Institute's Transforming Care Conference.
Additionally, the college annually hosts a keynote address with a speaker of national prominence. Previous speakers have included the team from the Making Gay History Podcast and the organizing staff from interAct Advocates for Intersex Youth among others.
Founded in 2019, the Kenyon Queer and Trans Studies Conference is a biennial conference for undergraduate and graduate students interested in LGBTQ+ studies. At this conference, there are five interdisciplinary tracks: healthcare and technology; visual and performing arts; humanities and popular culture; politics, society and the law; and community interest workshops.
Reflecting our commitment to collaboration, intersectionality, and accessibility, this conference is free-of-charge and open to undergraduate and graduate students both at and outside of Kenyon. Additionally, we are proud to partner with state-wide LGBTQ+ organizations — such as Trans Ohio, Equality Ohio, Equitas Health, and others — for this biennial conference.
Learn more about the Kenyon Queer and Trans Studies Conference.
Lavender graduations are ceremonies conducted to honor LGBTQ+ and allied students that are graduating and to acknowledge achievements and contributions made on their campuses and in their communities.
Each year, Kenyon’s LGBTQ+ and allied students are invited to be recognized and celebrated at an event prior to the College's Commencement Weekend in May. Lavender cords are provided, and they are recognized as a part of the College’s official graduation regalia.
Commitment to Community Collaboration
When offering programming and events on campus, we also intentionally seek to partner with local, regional and national LGBTQ+ organizations that serve the broader queer and trans community.
Recent collaborations have included national organizations like interAct Advocates for Intersex Youth and the National Center for Transgender Equality; state-wide organizations like Equitas Health, Trans Ohio, Equality Ohio, and the ACLU of Ohio; and regional organizations like GLSEN Central Ohio, Kaleidoscope Youth Center, and many more.
