Three distinguished guests spoke at GSA's second meeting late Thursday about the role of the Office of Student Development's (OSD) Multicultural Affairs (MA) in LGBTQA advocacy on campus and PrideFest volunteering opportunities. 

Assistant Dean of MA Carla Cadet and John Janulis (JJ), interim coordinator, said MA strives to create safe zones for LGBTQA students on campus and invites GSA members to "join hands" in participating and co-organizing LGBTQA-related initiatives on campus.

"We're interested in advocating for diversity and inclusion ... a Safe Zone or Ally training program for staff and students on campus is in the works," Cadet said. 

MA will be serving cookies and holding a screening of "Milk", an Academy Award-nominated film starring Sean Penn as gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk. The screening will be held 7:30 p.m., Sept. 26 (Monday) in the Multicultural Center on the first floor of the Alumni Memorial Union.

GSA members also had a blast from the past as alumnus Minh Nguyen, '05-'06 GSA president and current PrideFest Volunteer Director, dropped by to talk about volunteering opportunities at Milwaukee's annual pride festival and LGBTQ music showcase.

"It's a little early, but we start promoting [PrideFest] in October," Nguyen said. "Volunteering is fun - you get to network and meet new people. Contact me or your e-Board if interested and follow PrideFest on Facebook for more updates."

Members were then briefed about signing up for AIDS Walk on Oct. 1 (team name MU GSA) and participating in Coming Out Week (Oct. 10 - 14). The night ended with a trivia quiz on LGBTQ history, pop culture, and all things rainbow.

Keep up with upcoming GSA events on our calendar or drop us an e-mail at [email protected] to subscribe to our mailing list.

For those who couldn't make the first meeting (and any future ones), fret not - you'll find all the updates you need on this page!

Today we briefly introduced the e-Board members, our adviser, Ed de St. Aubin, Diversity Coordinator Angela Zapata and Steve Blaha, the assistant director of Campus Ministry (the e-Board also had ridiculous pictures of themselves on screen). We talked about our mission statement (which you can find here), and a few upcoming events (listed below). We ended the night with an ice breaker called "Captain's Coming", lots of snacks, and new friends. The following are some GSA events you'd really want to immortalize in your planner:

1. GSA Potluck!
Date:           Sept 17 (Saturday) 
Time:           6 p.m.- probably 9 or 10 p.m.
Location:      Matt's apartment (e-mail us or keep up with our GSA e-mails for address)
Other info:  If you haven't signed up, please feel free to email Anna and let us know if you're bringing 
                    food!

2. AIDS Walk!
Date:         Oct 1 (Saturday)
Time:         10:30 a.m. (meeting outside Brew for breakfast); We will be departing at 11 a.m., so bring 
                  your bus passes!
Location:    Summerfest Grounds
Other info: If you want to, you could wear your GSA shirt. (If you love the t-shirt and want to get one, 
                   e-mail us!)

3. Coming Out Week!
Date:          Oct 10-14
Other info: More details to come. During this week, we "fly" the Pride flag in a display window in the
                   AMU and decorate it with glitter and unicorns (and photos too). We also line the paths
                   outside the AMU or Central Mall (outside Lalumiere) with rainbow flags and have a bake 
                   sale. Also, watch out for the "Chronicles of the Closet" - stay with us and you'll find out!

All the events are also enlisted under our Calendar. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Pictures will follow shortly.