Yesterday, students, faculty and community members gathered on the Ladd House patio for No Man’s Land Film Festival’s return to campus, marking the second consecutive year the organization has held a screening at Bowdoin.
The event, co-hosted by the Bowdoin Outing Club (BOC) and the Sexuality, Women, and Gender Center (SWAG), consisted of a series of short films that focused on “un-defining the feminine” in athletics and outdoor adventure.
After a year of renovations, Ladd House reintroduced itself to students on Thursday evening with a welcome event, which took up the whole first floor of the building and spilled out onto the patio. The event was complete with music, affinity group stations and a formidable line in front of the Taco the Town food truck.
In addition to its move from 24 College Street to Ladd House this fall, the Sexuality, Women and Gender (SWAG) Center is welcoming a new face: newly-minted director Natalie Turrin.
Turrin, originally from Toronto, Canada, completed her doctorate at Emory University before working there in the Office of LGBT life and later serving as the Associate Director of the Center for Women.
In response to recent news about the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade, the Sexuality, Women and Gender (SWAG) center hosted a discussion entitled “Processing the Leaked Roe v. Wade Draft.” The discussion hosted at 24 College served as a space for students to find community, share their thoughts on the leaked draft and become energized for more advocacy work.
On Monday, the College announced that Ladd House will close following the end of the academic year and will undergo renovations. The changes to Ladd are meant to create a space for students with a multiplicity of identities to explore themselves and their lived experiences.
Every Wednesday night, tucked away in the corner room of the Sexuality, Women and Gender (SWAG) center, a group of students meet to discuss one thing—masculinity. The group, aptly named Healthy Masculinities, focuses on the culture surrounding toxic masculinity on campus in an effort to redefine what it means to be masculine.
As the leaves change and the air cools, another fall tradition is returning to campus: “OUTouber.” The month-long celebration, hosted by the Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance (BQSA) and the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center (SWAG), consists of a series of events throughout the month of October honoring National Coming Out Day and LGBTQIA+ acceptance.
The Sexuality, Women and Gender Center (SWAG) this week announced the debut of a new program called Affirming @ Bowdoin: All Genders All Sexualities, which will replace SWAG’s former OUTPeers and OUTAllies program. The workshop will be led by Associate Dean of Students for Inclusion and Diversity and Director of SWAG Kate Stern.
The Office of Inclusion and Diversity is spearheading a new program this semester designed to educate student leaders in promoting social justice and equity. The eight-session Social Justice Leadership Institute incorporates elements of past student workshops and campus-wide dialogue initiatives.
On Wednesday, the Office of Gender Violence Prevention and Education (OGVPE) and the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center (SWAG) held the first Women’s Journaling Break of the semester. The group plans to meet every Wednesday evening, from 6 to 7 p.m., via Zoom.
Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Janet Lohmann shared the College’s 2020 Election Week events page in an email to all students on Tuesday. The programming, which includes professor-led conversations, yoga and meditation sessions, shuttles to the polls and watch parties on Election Day, post-election drop-in hours and the final installment of the history department’s “1619 Project,” includes 14 events—some in-person and some virtual—between October 27 and November 6.
Cara Drinan ’96, a professor of law at the Catholic University of America, joined Bowdoin students and faculty on October 7 for a virtual discussion titled “Race, Crime and COVID-19.” Drinan has become a prominent figure in the battle for criminal justice reform, specializing in the right to counsel and juvenile sentencing.
As the end of September concludes students’ first month back in school, Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance (BQSA) looks forward to its fourth annual OUTtober.
OUTtober is a month of programming open to both LGBTQIA+ students and allies.
