Category: Board Statements

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Six Month Initiative for Organizational Change

At our town hall this July, we heard that Stanford Pride needs to change.  In response, we are embarking on a six month initiative for organizational change.   We are setting aside conventions, structures and bylaws to re-envision who we are and what we do.  To become a better and more useful version of what Stanford’s intergenerational queer community can be, we ask that you not only take part in – but also help steer – our journey in transformation.

The town hall and subsequent organizational change initiative came in the wake of our response to anti-black racism this past June, where we:

  • recognized the leadership of low-income Black and brown transgender people, sex workers, butch lesbians, homeless gay youth, and drag queens in the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and justice
  • stated Black Lives Matter and Black Trans Lives Matter and
  • acknowledged Stanford Pride’s failure and silence in addressing racism and systemic injustices within and beyond the queer community.

We are committed to several actions to hold us accountable to change.

STATUSCOMMITMENTACTIONOUTCOMES
CompletedHost an open Town Hall to hear members’ thoughts and feedback on how we can become a more inclusive and responsive organization and expand on our mission to reflect the diversity of our community.Town hall on 7/15/20Recognized as a Board that we needed deep organizational change and committed to a process to enable that change
In progressSurvey new graduates, current Stanford students, and Pride Members with a focus on queer and trans students and alumni of color to inform how Pride can best serve our diverse communityTake our Queer and Trans Alum Survey or Queer and Trans Student Survey, which each end on 10/10/2020.Aggregated results will be shared with the community after the survey ends.
In progressHold a special election so that the composition of the Board better reflects the Stanford Pride community.Apply to the Board of Directors and/or Refer SomeoneSelected board members will be shared.
In progressCoordinate with Stanford National Black Alumni Association and other affinity alumni organizations to host more joint events about the shared history of our communities and about advocating effectively for societal change.Register for Diverse Alumni End-of-Summer Happy Hour.  A Film Tribute to Marsha P. Johnson was also held.Additional events to be shared in the monthly E-Updates
Soon to comeRevise and add new programming to attract and engage the full population of the community we serve.In progress.

At a high level, our organizational change process will adhere to the following timeline:

  • August – September:  Create and disseminate surveys.  
  • October – December:  
    • Share survey results with the Stanford Pride community.
    • Assemble focus groups
    • Meet with focus groups to define and refine Stanford Pride’s mission, goals, and activities 
  • January – March: 
    • Draft Stanford Pride’s strategic plan.
    • Finalize work with focus groups
    • Share strategic plan with the Stanford Pride community.
  • Beyond March:  Execute & evaluate.

If you are interested in working with us to create the future of Stanford’s intergenerational queer community, please indicate so in the alumni survey or student survey.  

Please also consider registering for our (virtual) Stanford Pride Homecoming Reunion and Connecting Across Generations: Queer Women* & Non-Binary Members of the Stanford Community and other upcoming events.   You can also stay in the loop through social media, below.

Our Website
Our Facebook Group
Our Facebook Page
Our LinkedIn Group
Stanford LGBTQ+ Alumni Mentoring Group
Princeton’s BTGALA Event Calendar
StartOut

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Special Election – Board of Directors

A hand places a piece of paper in a box. The objects are in black on a white background.

Stanford Pride is holding a Special Election for the Board of Directors as part of our commitment to better serve Black members of our community. This election is happening alongside ongoing efforts to better serve queer and trans people of color through cohosting events with SNBAA and POC alumni organizations, surveying queer and trans students of color, and rethinking our event programming. Stanford Pride recognizes that, while we have made progress on our Board diversity over the last few years, we have a long way to go to truly represent and support the diversity of the LGBTQ+ alumni community. This special election plays a key part in our work to achieve that goal.

Please apply yourself or refer others to serve on our board, especially those who:

  • Have experience working with Stanford staff, faculty, and students
  • Are well-connected to local LGBTQ+ communities, including those at Stanford
  • Demonstrate leadership potential
  • Will represent Stanford Pride in their community

Current students are eligible to apply (both graduate or undergraduate).

How to Apply

  • Fill out the brief application form
  • Email your resume and a brief cover letter outlining your interest to Eric Elkin (elkineric@gmail.com).

We ask all candidates to submit their application by December 10, 2020.

How to Refer

If you know someone that you think could contribute their lived experienced to the Stanford Pride Board, please refer them to us. We will reach out to them with information about being a Board Member and how to apply.

Board Commitment

Board Members hold their position for a two-year term. In this time, they will support the mission and goals of Pride by:

  • Attending events and actively engage constituency
  • Serving on at least one board committee
  • Attending scheduled board calls and committee-specific calls scheduled as necessary

About Us

Stanford Pride (stanfordpride.org) is the LGBTQ+ club of the Stanford Alumni Association. The board consists of alumni volunteers (primarily) with students, staff & faculty welcome to join the board. Our Mission is to create and foster an affirming community of LGBTQ+ alumni, students, faculty and staff, and to represent the Stanford LGBTQ+ communities to the University and beyond.

A sample of community involvement and events includes:

  • We award the Stanford Pride Fellowship each year to 1-2 outstanding undergraduates, allowing them to pursue summer internships serving the LGBTQ community 
  • Reunion Homecoming event for LGBTQ+ alumni
  • Lavender Graduation, an event to celebrate the graduating class of LGBTQ+ students each year
  • Culture Club – a quarterly discussion of a book or a movie primarily focusing
    on queer people of color
  • Inter-generational Discussion: high school students, college students, and
    alums
  • Community service and professional networking events
  • Social gatherings at art galleries, pubs, athletic events, and private homes
  • Annual Stanford Pride Ski Trip to Lake Tahoe
  • Pride Parades
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Responding to Anti-Black Racism

Stanford Pride's rainbow logo against a black background

This June feels different from many others we’ve experienced as a community. Pride parades and celebrations around the world have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of us are physically separated from our chosen families, loved ones, and friends. Protests, demonstrations, and riots in cities around the United States have brought millions together to affirm Black lives and challenge police violence, white supremacy, and anti-Black racism.

The Board of Directors of Stanford Pride would like to take this moment as an opportunity to speak on several things. The first is to make clear our support of these protests and the ideals behind them, and contextualize these recent events within the history of the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S. The second is to recognize where as an organization we have failed to fully support our LGBTQ+ community, especially our Black community members. Lastly is to commit honestly and publicly to actions we will take to build an organization that serves all members of our community, and how community members can join us in this process.

Jump to LGBTQ Resources Against Racism

Our History

In the early morning hours of June 28th, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by law enforcement. In response to police violence, members of the local community fought back. Led by poor Black and brown transgender people, sex workers, butch lesbians, homeless gay youth, and drag queens, the following demonstrations and violent riots lasted a total of five days. We recognize that the Stonewall Riots, widely seen as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ movement, was a violent uprising against police brutality and unjust laws that hurt the most marginalized of our communities. We recognize that we owe many of the rights and social acceptance the LGBTQ+ community enjoys today to the tireless activism and advocacy of our most marginalized members, especially Black queer and trans people, and that our current moment is the latest example in a long history of Black queer and trans leadership driving long-overdue change.

Our Support

Black Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter. We fully support and stand behind the efforts of protesters and advocates around the country pushing for a more just and equitable world, and are committed to doing our part to contribute to that vision.

Our Failure

While we have had several non-public discussions as a group, we recognize that we have been publicly silent on this matter. There is no justification for that, and we apologize for not speaking out sooner in support of our members, friends, and peers in the Black community.

As a board, we have struggled through the uncomfortable reality that as an organization, Stanford Pride has not lived up to our mission to create and foster a diverse and affirming community of LGBTQ+ alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Our leadership and membership have long struggled to fully represent the diversity of our broader LGBTQ+ community. Our event programming, whether around the world or on Stanford campus, has struggled to attract and engage the most marginalized members of our community. And our messaging and communication have too often stayed silent on topics of concern for women, BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color), transgender and gender-nonconforming people, and the intersections of these identities. We can and will do better, and also know that this acknowledgement isn’t enough without meaningful change in how we act and think. 

Our Commitment

We understand there is a significant amount of work for us to do to rectify the lack of representation on our board, in our events, in the composition of our panels, and in other areas where we invite members to contribute. We are committed to having diversity become integral to our membership and ethos. We know we must act with urgency. 

Stanford Pride is committing to do the following: 

  • Hold a special election to fill open board seats, and continually evaluate the composition of the Board to be reflective of the Stanford community. 
  • Engage QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) members specifically to collect their testimonials as part of our long-standing Oral History Project.
  • Coordinate with SNBAA and POC alumni organizations to host more joint events about the shared history of our communities and about advocating effectively for societal change.
  • Host an open Town Hall to hear members’ thoughts and feedback on how we can become a more inclusive and responsive organization and expand on our mission to reflect the diversity of our community.
  • Survey new graduates and current Stanford students, with a focus on queer and trans students of color, to understand how Pride can best serve our diverse community
  • Rethink our programming to better attract and engage the full population of the community we serve.

Activist, drag queen, and survivor Marsha P. Johnson has said, “History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.” We are committing Stanford Pride to being that kind of organization – one that decisively includes and celebrates our entire community.

Yours,
Stanford Pride Board of Directors

Support Resources

For community members looking for direct support, the Board has identified the following resources specific for our community: 

Educational Resources & Pop Culture

For community members looking for additional ways to support and self-educate on ways to support the community:

Content Centering Black and/or Queer and Trans Experiences

Content Centering QTPOC Experiences

Content Centering Whiteness with a Critical Lens

For Parents with Children

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