The LGBT Resource Center at Cornell provides a variety of programs to the campus community, centered around our five pillars of service: advocacy, education, outreach, community, and support.
Check out the LGBT Resource Center’s Campus Groups calendar of events for specific dates, times, and locations of upcoming programs, or click through the different options in our menu to learn more!
Educational and Resource Based Programs These programs provide education about LGBTQ+ identities and provide resources to better assist students in navigating these identities.
QSWARE (Queer Sexual Wellness and Relationship Education)
A student-run interactive workshop program that collaborates with Planned Parenthood of Greater New York to educate students on three topics: 1) Queer Sex Ed, 2) Queer Healthy Relationships, and 3) Expansive Sex Practices.
Growthshops
This six-week long workshop series is student run and includes guest speakers from across campus to facilitate discussions about various topics having to deal with LGBTQ+ identity, from intersectionality to coming out. Each workshop session includes a free catered dinner for attendees.
Open Swim with the LGBTRC
In collaboration with Cornell Athletics, Open Swim with the LGBTRC allows students to complete their swim test, do a lap, or swim in community.
Legal Name Change Clinic
In collaboration with Volunteer Lawyers Project of Central New York, the LGBTRC offers trans and gender expansive students and community members the opportunity to meet with a Cornell law student to start the process of legally changing their name.
Unsupportive Families
This interactive workshop program is run by counselors at Cornell CAPS to give students resources for how to best navigate interacting with family members who are unsupportive of their LGBTQ+ identities. This workshop is typically held at the end of the semester, before students leave for the long break.
Religious Self-Defense
This interactive workshop program is run by various Cornell religious leaders, who walk students through various religious texts and invite open discussion about strategies to interpret these texts in a way that affirms LGBTQ+ identities.
The Werk Room: Grad Writing Hours
The Werk Room is a weekly quiet workspace dedicated to graduate and professional students so they can work and write while in community. Free donuts and coffee are included for attendees of grad writing hours.
Identity Celebrations: These programs include nationally recognized visibility days and weeks for various identities under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. To celebrate each visibility day or week, the LGBTRC tables on campus to bring awareness to the identity, the resources at the LGBTRC, and any events being held that week. We also host educational events and socials to bring community together in celebration of identities within the LGBTQ+ community. Examples include Bisexual Awareness Week, Aromantic Awareness Week, Lesbian Visibility Week, and Trans Day of Visibility.
Annual Programs: The LGBT Resource Center holds several large-scale annual events to celebrate and welcome members of the LGBTQ+ community and allied students. These include:
Weeks of Welcome events for incoming students
Tie-Dye Social
LGBTQ+ Family Info Sessions
Halloween Drag Bingo
Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil
Drag Me to School Workshop Series
Lavender Graduation Ceremony
Lavender Graduation is a ceremony that celebrates the achievements of graduating undergraduate and graduate and professional students in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and aspec (LGBTQIA+) community from Cornell University.
Who participates in a Lavender Graduation? While Lavender Graduation celebrates the achievements of graduating students, this event is also an opportunity for family, friends, faculty, administrators, peers, allies, and significant persons to celebrate each student at the conclusion of their academic journey. Since this ceremony only occurs once a year in the Spring, all graduating students in the Summer or Fall semesters are encouraged to participate in the ceremony of their choosing.
