Don’t let PRIDE die
EU PRIDE is loud and proud for the first semester on campus since the pandemic, and while I would like to believe it’s here to stay, I’m nervous. I’ve had the privilege and honor to be part of this group and aid in the effort to bring visibility back on campus. I’ve been one of the Social Media & Communication Chairs, and I know what you’re thinking: that’s a very fancy title! Honestly, it took a village to get this club up and running, and the title was just a cool bonus.
In just our short time together, we’ve done quite a lot. We covered the campus head to toe in rainbows back in February as a loud way of announcing that the club was back and better than ever before. We made our first public appearance at the student involvement fair and gave out an assortment of rainbow stuff, because everybody loves free stuff. We had a “Paint your Pride” collaboration event with the Art Club, where we designed tote bags. I still use mine, donning a Ukrainian flag as well as a Lesbian flag. We held Big Queer Gathering in the library, bringing back a reoccurring event that was actually last set to happen in a specific week in March 2020, but was put on an indefinite hold because of the pandemic.
And last but certainly not least, we hosted a drag show. It was the first drag show on campus since 2019, and more importantly, it was the first Elmhurst University Drag Show, as it was formerly the Elmhurst College Drag Show.
Despite the low turnout we had for meetings, the long nights we spent planning, and all the bumps along the way, the show was a resounding success. To see the unity, laughter, and just pure happiness on the faces of everyone there made the stress worth it. When I say that it was one of the greatest days I’ve had at EU and one of the greatest days I’ve ever had in college, I truly mean it.
Because of this, I want to know that PRIDE will be taken care of. And I hope that for at least one person reading this, you’ll give the club a chance and find this community on campus. A community where you are in good hands. A community where you aren’t just understood, but you are loved. I won’t get on my soapbox and ask you to donate $1 a day to help fund the club, and I won’t play “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan to force you to feel sad. This isn’t one of those sad animal commercials. But I will tell you to consider joining, just like I did. Because if I didn’t decide “Yeah, I’ll go to that first meeting,” I don’t know where I would be.
There is an age-old notion associated with nature that we should leave things better than how we found them. In our short time together, I really do believe PRIDE is better than how we found it, but I also believe the sky is the limit. For the next group of brave students who take the torch and join the club, I believe you will do the same. You will pave the way for it to be in even better hands when your time to leave comes as well. Which brings me back to my first point: in order to get there, don’t let EU PRIDE die.
