Under the warm, golden glow of a setting sun, the Santa Rosa Junior College Queer Resource Center hosted the Rainbow Welcome Dinner to celebrate LGBTQIA2S+ students, staff and faculty as the Fall Semester begins on Sept. 26 in the Bertolini Quad.
The perfect weather melted the ice off of cold feet; attendees mingled and connected, with the goal of building a community of mutual support in mind. La Texanita Restaurant catered the event, which included a live DJ and opportunities to meet on-campus clubs as well as local LGBTQIA2S+ community organizations. Raizes Collective provided attendees the opportunity to artistically express themselves by painting on a saran wrap wall.
Aria Bonifacio and Felix Santiago, two queer student interns at the QRC planned the event with support from faculty coordinator Dr. Roam Romagnoli.
“Often in media we see the struggles that queer people go through. We want to create events and spaces that spark queer joy,” Bonifacio said.
The Rainbow Welcome Dinner had tables for local LGBTQIA2s+ supporting nonprofits, including LGBTQ Connections, Positive Images and Amor Para Todos. Ally organizations that provide services to other under-served communities, including Los Cien and 10,000 Degrees, as well as on-campus organizations such as Black Student Union, Inter-Tribal Student Union, Native American Faculty and Staff Association, and Asian and Pacific American Student Success also had tables.
Bonifacio and Santiago intentionally invited off-campus organizations to the event to raise student awareness of alternative resources to turn to if they can’t find a sense of community at SRJC. They say that students often forget about the queer and trans faculty and staff on campus, so they hoped students could find a supportive on-campus community, too.
In a welcome speech, Dr. Romagnoli said they are humbled that Dr. Angélica Garcia, the college’s first queer president, chose to work at SRJC.
“You would never see this on the campus where I was at,” Dr. Garcia said of her time as an undergraduate student. “The Gay-Straight Alliance at the time was predominantly male, and so I learned that to find community [you] almost had to go underground [and find] clandestine gatherings. You started to find community in a hidden way that makes it hard when you’re in college ‘cause then you have to compartmentalize yourself. With this kind of event, it’s out, it’s proud, it is signaling to the community [that] regardless of their sexual identity or gender expression, there’s a place for you here.”
New this semester, queer students beginning their journey at SRJC could enroll in the Queer First Year Program. The program is a year-long opportunity for LGBTQIA2S+ students to feel supported and build relationships with students, staff and faculty. Perks include priority registration, a free parking pass and an end of year field trip. Fifty-two students have already signed up, many of whom attended the Welcome Dinner.
River Underhill, who is in the Queer First Year Program, said, “I really like the sense of community and it feels like it’s a safer campus that this kind of event can happen and just [be] so chill; and I like that they’re inviting allies and trying to help them engage more.”
Indigenous dancers, hosted by Raizes Collective, closed out the event with a ceremonial dance.
Students, faculty, and staff can find support at the SRJC Intercultural Center where the QRC, APASS, Puente, Native American Center and Black Student Union all have offices. The Intercultural Center is open Mondays and Tuesdays from 10-4 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10-7 p.m., and by appointment only on Fridays.
Chelsea Kurnick contributed to this reporting. Kurnick is on the board of directors at Positive Images.
