I met with some of my Point family this weekend for our Regional Leadership Forum. They always get the ideas flowing and my ambition skyrocketing, so I’ve managed to crank out some thoughts about campus organizing.

The first question I have to tackle is that of definition; what do LGBTQA orgs on campuses do? My school is a small one, with an undergrad population around 2,200. Our queer group is all-inclusive, catering to social, political, and academic needs. We seem to have a chronic condition of multiple personalities, discussing a variety of issues within our hour-long weekly meeting. I understand that larger schools oftentimes split their LGBTQA groups between social and political frameworks, or they piece apart the queer letters. While this may lock onto particular missions, there is still some ambiguity that I wonder about. Are queer groups meant to finagle ourselves into larger social and volunteer networks, asserting our own presence and therefore “normalcy”? Are our political mission supposed to work on a governmental level, or should the focus rest on the immediate community? Do we benefit more through inter-college networking or community connections? And how do we divide our attention and resources to meet all these different areas of concern?

What rides on eight wheels and wears pink flannel?

Me. :)

OPEN recently attended Roll-on America's Pride Skate Night. Everyone had a blast, and hopefully there will be more skate nights in the future. I suggest that other schools try this one out. Check out your local roller rinks, see how they feel about a pride skate. Or just go for a casual outing with members. Chances are at least a third of ya will fall on your butts—which really only makes it better!

So this is something to be excited about! That’s right, an LGBT skate night at the local roller skate rink/gaming establishment, Roll On America. It’s coming up this month, so I’ll be posting pictures! In the meantime, I’ll be encouraging my group to make sweet uniforms. It may not quite be roller derby, but it might just be a springboard. Oh yeah, it’s on.

On a more serious note, OPEN has recently come to realize that Clark University doesn’t account for any sort of gender and/or gender presentation in its nondiscrimination policy. This month we’re having a speaker on Transgender rights and showing the informative documentary Toilet Training, so hopefully we can use that momentum to work with administration and get some serious trans-friendly policies in place.