Newsletter

Friday, April 10th was a day of silent protest for Gender and Sexuality Union (GSU) and friends, as students across campus silenced their voices in solidarity. The tradition, first started by students at UVA in 1996 in response to the bullying and harassment of LGBTQIA+ students on campus, has now become a nationally recognized demonstration. Today, LGBTQIA+ students and allies around the country protest the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination of LGBTQIA+ people in schools. Participating in the day of silence is not only crucial not only for LGBTQIA+ folks, but is also a meaningful way for allies to visibly show their support for the queer community.

Campus friends gathered on the afternoon of Sunday, April 11th to celebrate Holi as a community. South Asian Student Association (SASA) and Asian Student Union (ASU) joined forces to bring together a fantastic event to Babbitt Pavillion. Holi, widely known as the vibrant Hindu festival of colors, marks the arrival of spring and symbolizes renewal, joy, and the triumph of good over evil.

Gender and Sexuality Union's (GSU) Pride Month and EJAG’s Earth Month programming kicked off on April 6th in the ALCC basement with a thought-provoking event on queer ecology, exploring how environmental ideas have historically shaped understandings of sexuality and identity. The presentation challenged nineteenth-century evolutionary frameworks that cast queerness as “unnatural,” highlighting how these ideas reinforced rigid binaries and broader systems of oppression. It ultimately emphasized queerness as a challenge to fixed categories, opening up more expansive ways of thinking about identity, nature, and belonging.

What does it mean to be a Womanist? Attendees gathered in the DMC on the night of Tuesday, February 24th to discuss the meaning of the Womanist movement and how it diverges from mainstream feminism while exploring the art of zine making in community. Coined by author and activist Alice Walker, the term first appeared in her 1982 publication In Search of Our Mothers Gardens: A Womanist Prose. The movement was made to acknowledge the unique obstacles and challenges faced by Black women.

On Wednesday, March 11th at 5:00pm, the Center for Intersectional Feminism (CIF) hosted its Women of Color Banquet at the Annex, bringing together students, faculty, and staff for an evening centered on celebration, reflection, and community. The event created a space to honor the voices, experiences, and contributions of women of color on Hamilton campus, inviting attendees to engage in meaningful conversation.

Students poured into the glittering halls of the Annex and Events Barn on Saturday, March 7th at 10pm, drawn by the pulse of blasting music and the shimmer of stunning, hand crafted decorations that transformed the space into something electric. The night held a celebration brought to life by the collective energy and vision of student organizers across all five DMC organizations alongside Sadove Programming to create an unforgettable night of urban vibrancy. 

Students engaged with the history of Vaqueros and Black cowboys in conversation and discussion on the evening of Friday, February 26th in the DMC Living Room. Organizers from La Vanguardia (LV) and the Black and Latine Student Union (BLSU) joined forces to educate students on the foundation for the American cowboy, crediting agricultural styles, fashion, civil rights progress, and historic battles to the Mexican and Black cowboys.

On February 16th, BLSU and CIF opened up this week’s events with Black Women Betrayed, forcing us to confront a devastating reality. Black women and girls go missing at staggering rates, and the country too often responds with silence. In 2022, around 271,492 women and girls were reported missing in the U.S. Thirty-six percent of them (around 97,924), were Black, despite Black women and girls making up only about 14% of the U.S. female population. In 2023, of the 563,389 people reported missing, 40% were Black women and girls. These numbers are not anomalies. They reflect a pattern of neglect.

Hamilton College’s African Student Association (ASA) and Black and Latine Student Association (BLSU) brought students together in KTSA on Friday for an evening to celebrate the styles and techniques of caring for Black hair. Attendees browsed from a selection of hair care products and materials to get them started with caring for their hair and picked up paints, canvases, and easels to paint various styles of hair.

On February 18th, GSU and CIF collaborated for Aromantic Awareness Week to explore Relationship Anarchy 101, an interactive discussion unpacking the norms that shape how we think about love, commitment, and intimacy. Co-President of GSU Kamya Malhotra’28 opened up the event with a thought experiment: when you hear terms like polyamory, friends with benefits, casual sex, queerplatonic relationships, or committed platonic partnerships, what is your immediate reaction? Do any of these provoke discomfort or skepticism? Students reflected on how our responses often reveal internalized assumptions about what relationships are “supposed” to look like.