Lavender Graduation celebrates and recognizes the accomplishments of graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and ally students, as well as acknowledges their contributions to the University of Idaho over the time they have spent here.
This year, our 2013 Lavender Graduation will be held on Tuesday, April 23 at 7:00 pm in the Commons Clearwater/Whitewater Rooms.
Our 2013 keynote speaker will be Harvey Katz, spoken word artist and solo member of Athens Boys Choir. Katz/Athens Boy Choir has been performing nationally since 2003 and has produced five CD releases of spoken word poetry and parody raps where he challenges mainstream notions of gender and sexuality. Katz will bring his unique point of view on trans* identity through a humorous lens as a Transsexual Jewish man.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
In 1995, Ronni Sanlo, the Director of the University of Michigan LGBT Resource Center, decided that LGBT students needed their own graduation ceremony like that of other racial and ethnic minorities on campus to honor their accomplishments and contributions to the university and to acknowledge the fact that they had survived the college experience. Since that time, many campuses across the country have begun to host their own Lavender Graduations.