The HYPE blog team decided to turn over the keyboard to members of student orgs, to give them a chance to share their experiences and express their views. Nick DI Palma, gave us insight into what it means to be a PRIDE member at Bentley University -
People Respecting Individuality and Diversity through Education, also known as PRIDE, is a student organization on campus whose main goal is to provide an open and inclusive environment for all people. PRIDE is a place for people to find others who are supportive and feel safe regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. PRIDE is also used as a place to learn and openly discuss current events that revolve around the LBGT+ community. One of the aspects of PRIDE we hope to get across is that allies of the LGBT+ community are always welcome to join and attend our meetings.
Our president, Andrew Glanton, expresses what being a member of PRIDE means to him saying that it “ has allowed me to connect with people who have gone through similar experiences and who have similar struggles. Being in PRIDE also allows me an opportunity to be a support system to those who are struggling with coming out, or just to be a supportive ally to anyone in the community. The most important thing I want to stress is that many members of PRIDE do not identify as LGBTQ+, many of them identify as straight allies. In order for progress to be made, we need support from everyone!”
As a student organization, we try to get to know each other better by going on trips to places like Provincetown or the local apple orchard. Throughout the year we hold two big events. Our first event, “Guess the Straight Person” is on October 11th from 7-9pm in the Blue Line and our second event, “Drag Bingo” will be on November 16th from 9:30-11pm in Back Bay. We would love to have you join us in our meetings every Thursday at 9:15pm in the Equity Center.
