The Shippensburg University Pride and Gender Equity (PAGE) Center hosted many events for Trans Week of Visibility, which took place from March 27 to 31. Throughout the week, various events including an open mic and game night, speakers and a potluck dinner took place. To close out the week, the potluck welcomed students, staff and faculty to eat together and celebrate International Trans Day of Visibility.
The Trans Week of Visibility occurs annually during the week of March 31 — the International Transgender Day of Visibility. According to the PAGE Center website, the event was started in 2009 by Michigan-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall as a way to elevate and celebrate the transgender communities and our many differences.
The PAGE Center central mission is to offer a focal point in making Shippensburg University a more inclusive, safer and more equitable environment for all university community members, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Jenna Cornell, a PAGE Center Peer Educator, said the PAGE Center is the combination of SU’s old Pride and Women’s Centers.
“We do a lot of advocacy work for students on campus who fall under these identities,” she said. “Furthermore, we are an educational resource/service and space that welcomes people of any identity.
“I assist in the planning, scheduling and presenting of educational sessions in classrooms and at the center,” Cornell said. “Furthermore, I am a resource to students who may need help navigating our resources, or just need a peer to talk to. Lastly, as a peer educator I help make content for our social media accounts, the most popular being our Instagram (@shippagecenter). And I help in the coordination/staffing of events.”
For the remainder of the spring semester, the PAGE Center plans to host queer prom on April 7, Take Back the Night on April 12, a sexual assault panel on April 20 and Lavender graduation on May 4.
The PAGE Center is located in CUB 232, and additional information can be found on its social media, @shippagecenter, or online.
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