March 4, 2021
K-State represented at Big 12 LGBTQIA and Allies annual summit
The Big 12 LGBTQIA and Allies Summit was hosted online on Feb. 27-28 by Texas Tech University. The Kansas State University LGBT Resource Center and Division of Intercultural Learning and Academic Success served as a sponsor and assisted in the planning of the multi-institution event.
The summit brings together college students, faculty, staff and community members from across the region who are committed to inclusion, access and equity within higher education and beyond. Throughout the two-day gathering, participants have opportunities to network with other leaders and community organizers, engage with social justice advocates through educational programming, and learn from trailblazing professionals for LGBTQIA equality on the national stage.
K-State was well represented at the summit with many of our campus community students, faculty and staff attending. Additionally, several of our K-State campus community led multiple aspects and participated in the conference. Thomas Lane, vice president for student life, provided the Summit Welcome for Plenary Speaker Diana Tourjee, media personality and writer. Brandon Haddock, LGBT Resource Center, served on the Plenary Panel discussion with Tourjee titled "You Are the Person You've Been Waiting For." Haddock also hosted the Indigenous Queer and Two-Spirit Affinity Space for the Summit.
K-State undergraduate and graduate students also had the opportunity to present and host sessions at the summit. Katie Hutson, undergraduate researcher and board member of the K-State Sexuality and Gender Alliance, co-hosted the Asexual Affinity Space at the Summit. Ray Rayburn, graduate student in interior architecture and industrial design, presented "Gender Neutral Restrooms: An International Design Issue." Sam Sharpe, graduate student in biology, presented "Sex, Gender, and Biology in Higher Education."
We thank and appreciate our students, faculty and staff for participating in this greatly important event and representing our university in the Big 12.