Despite pandemic conditions, the tradition of The University of Texas at Dallas Lavender Graduation will continue this spring for its ninth consecutive year. The ceremony honors the contributions and accomplishments of LGBTQ and ally students.
“It is an opportunity for students who may not have a strong support system at home to be surrounded by people who are like-minded — where they can celebrate their achievements freely and openly,” said Stevesha Evans, a graduate student in history who is participating in this year’s Lavender Graduation.
The event will be held virtually this spring, with attendees able to hear messages from various people from the UT Dallas community.
Matt Winser-Johns, assistant director of LGBT+ Programs at UT Dallas, said that while the virtual format is not ideal, there has been a silver lining.
“One of the special parts of the in-person Lavender Graduation is connecting with each other and sharing a meal together,” Winser-Johns said. “However, one positive thing about turning it into a virtual program is that we’ve actually had more participation from people who wanted to be a lavender graduate. That is definitely a positive.”
Winser-Johns said another positive change is that the ceremony now is occurring in both the spring and fall semesters, instead of only the spring.
In addition to the virtual ceremony on May 4, lavender graduates will receive a care package that includes a rainbow cord, a lavender graduation certificate, swag from the Galerstein Gender Center and a gift from Alumni Relations.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, the first Lavender Graduation ceremony took place in 1995 at the University of Michigan. Lavender is important to LGBTQ history. It is a combination of the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear in concentration camps and the black triangle designating lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany. The LGBTQ civil rights movement combined them to represent pride and community.
Today more than 200 universities across the country honor their LGBTQ graduates with a Lavender Ceremony.
UT Dallas recently was named one of the nation’s best colleges for LGBTQ+ students and the only university in Texas and the Southwest to make the top 25 list.
The University was ranked 14th in the nation by BestColleges.com in partnership with Campus Pride. UT Dallas has a five-star rating, the highest possible, from Campus Pride for its commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policies, programs and practices.
The ranking was based on eight factors: LGBTQ policy inclusion, support and institutional commitment, academic life, student life, housing and residence life, campus safety, counseling and health, and recruitment and retention efforts.
Evans, who plans to continue her education at UT Dallas by pursuing a PhD in history of ideas, said she has felt supported at UT Dallas and is looking forward to returning to campus this fall.
“For the most part, UT Dallas has provided a good environment for me,” she said. “I have really enjoyed the School of Arts and Humanities graduate program. I appreciated learning from my professors, and I am looking forward to continuing to learn more from them as I work on my doctoral degree.”