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Cornell University

Student & Campus Life

Get Involved

A neon sign on a table at a school dance.

For LGBTQ+ people and all students, it is important to create and maintain strong community connections to foster joy and personal support networks. Whether you are a current student, faculty, staff, or alumni, there are a myriad of ways to get involved. Check out the links below to learn more about how you can get involved and support our community.  

Join our Campus Groups page to sign up for our biweekly newsletter, which has more information on upcoming events and resources from the LGBTRC.  

Student Involvement

Undergraduate Student Involvement

Haven: The LGBTQ+ Student Union

Haven serves as an administrative umbrella for most of the undergraduate student organizations involved in the support and outreach to LGBTQ+ students at Cornell (though it is open to graduate and professional students as well). Haven provides co-sponsorship, opportunities for community-building and education initiatives, and programming for their general body members and allied students. Haven also works with professional staff and collaborates with other Cornell groups to address the social support needs of all LGBTQ+ students.  
 
You can follow them on Instagram and/or join their Campus Groups page 

ACE

ACE is a student-run social support group for individuals of the Cornell community who identify as ace, ace-questioning aro, or aro-questioning. ACE provides its members with a support network and a safe space to meet and discuss ace & aro-related issues and experiences. ACE is also dedicated to developing the ace community at Cornell and improving the visibility and availability of information surrounding the ace community.  

Email: aceFacilitator.Cornell@gmail.com or join their Campus Groups.  

BICONS

Bicons is dedicated to creating a fun and supportive environment for bi+ individuals at Cornell. We strive to educate our members about issues concerning the bi+ community, highlight bisexuality in the media, and help foster friendships within our group. 
 
Email: bicons.cornell@gmail.com or join their Campus Groups. 

Lavender 

A confidential peer-run social, support, and event planning organization for lesbian, bisexual, queer, questioning, and transwomen on campus.  

Join their Campus Groups.  

OASIS

Social/cultural group for LGBTQ+ and Asian-, Pacific Islander-, & Desi-American students.  

Email: oasiscornell@gmail.com or join their Campus Groups 

qSTEM

The goal of this organization is to provide support to LGBTQ+ students of Cornell University who are interested in STEM fields through providing social and/or professional networking opportunities and social and/or professional development events.  

Email: cornellqpic@gmail.com or join their Campus Groups  

T.A.N.GO.

T.A.N.G.O.’s (Transgender, Agender, Non-Binary, Genderqueer, Other) mission is to create a space where students with similar, non-cisgender identities, who are questioning their gender identity, can meet, get support, and build community. 

Email: tango@cornell.edu or join their Campus Groups  

Transitioning at Cornell 

The Transitioning at Cornell group was started in the hopes of supporting individuals at Cornell as they transition medically and legally. We hope to provide both community and information to our group members. In this group, we will address current events relevant to the transgender community and discuss legal and medical information on topics such as surgeries, hormones, and name and gender marker changes. We will also have opportunities as a group to hear from both mental and medical health professionals from Cornell Health’s transgender care team. Questions or interests can be directed to our organizational email  transitioning@cornell.edu

Queer Professional Community

Founded in 2019, Queer Professional Community (QPC) strives to create a safe community for LGBTQ+ students interested in business, law, medicine, and engineering by hosting professional and social events that allow members to connect with fellow students and industry leaders while advocating on behalf of LGBTQ+ voices across campus.

Crass

The purpose of Crass as an organization is to publish a Zine featuring art, poetry, essays, writings, and other works by queer students at Cornell. As a publication, we aim to always be Personal, Powerful, and Political, as well as anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and anti-capitalist, and to fight for restorative justice and liberation through the creation of art. Crass must not shy away from difficult subjects of sex, sexuality, race, class, disability, or gender, among others, and must always aim to confront those who are powerful with the reality of their privilege. For more information about this organization, email: crasszine@gmail.com

Other LGBTQ+ Orgs 

Queery
Queery is focused on empowering queer individuals, questioning individuals and their allies interested in the tech field at Cornell. 

Email: cornellqueery@gmail.com or join their Campus Groups 

Big Red Pride Club
A club for queer and allied athletes in Cornell Athletics. An official chapter of Athlete Ally – an organization dedicated to promoting equal access, opportunity, and experience in sports — regardless of your sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. 
 
[In process of registration – follow @bigred_pride on IG for more info] 

Graduate Student Involvement

QGrads

QGrads is a graduate student organization focused on building a strong queer community at Cornell by creating spaces for graduate students of all sexual orientations and gender identities to feel seen, heard, and supported. We serve approximately 150 graduate students in various fields of study, with exciting programs throughout the year, including professional development events, community discussions, and social gatherings. In addition to planning events and programming that promote personal and professional development of LGBTQIA+ graduate students, we work with other organizations at Cornell to [tk]. We are affiliated with the Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement (OISE), the LGBT Resource Center (LGBTRC), and Diversity Programming in Engineering (DPE) at Cornell University.

OutLaw

Lambda is Cornell Law School's organization for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ), and Straight Ally students on campus. Lambda hosts speaker series on issues relevant to the LGBTQ legal community, provides a mentorship program for 1L students, organizes networking opportunities with alums and LGBTQ professors on campus, and serves as a voice for the LGBTQ community at Cornell Law. All Cornell students are encouraged to come and participate in their speaker events. If you are interested in cosponsoring an event or organizing a social mixer, please contact them through their Facebook Page.

Out for Business

 Out For Business (O4B) is the Johnson School's gay-straight alliance and includes members of the LGBT community, people with friends and/or family in the LGBT community, and anyone who sees the importance in creating an attractive work and social environment for current and prospective LGBT students, faculty and staff. Their activities include:

  • Hosting social events for the entire Johnson School community
  • Recruiting LGBT prospective students
  • Establishing ties with corporate LGBT employee groups
  • Participating in national LGBT business conferences
  • Socializing with the larger Cornell LGBT student community

Pride Student Veterinary Medical Community  

The Pride SVMC (formally Broad Spectrums) is a Veterinary chapter at Cornell that aims to empower LGBTQ+ veterinary students and enlighten the student body on issues regarding gender, sex, and sexual orientation.

Project Biodiversify

People – including students and biologists – exhibit a diverse set of backgrounds and identities. However, most biology students are not exposed to a diversity of role models in the field of biology, and many students are taught about biology in a way that (often unintentionally) does not feel inclusive to them or their communities.Project Biodiversify is here to help! We are a group that promotes the humanization, diversification, and inclusivity of biology classrooms. email: biodiversifyatcornell@gmail.com. 

Academic Student Involvement 

Cornell has a number of different resources for people interested in the study of human sexuality and gender. Within our Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS), we have a program in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.

Within our libraries, we have a world-renowned Human Sexuality Collection, which seeks to preserve and make accessible primary sources that document historical shifts in the social construction of sexuality, with a focus on U.S. lesbian and gay history and the politics of pornography.  

Student Employment: Working for the LGBT Resource Center

The LGBT Resource Center hires a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students every academic year to take the lead on initiatives and programs that support community building and education for the LGBTQ+ community. Any open positions will be posted on Workday in March each spring semester. Students are hired for the upcoming academic year. Currently, we hire for the following positions:

  • Digital Communications Coordinator
  • Community Engagement Coordinator for Queer Sexual Wellness and Relationship Education Programming (QSWARE) Community Engagement for Trans Empowerment Programming
  • Community Engagement for Spectrums of Color Programming
  • Community Engagement for Bi+ Programming
  • Community Engagement for Growth Shops Programming

Faculty/Staff Involvement 

Faculty and staff are involved with the LGBTQ+ community in a variety of ways. They can join the LGBT Colleague Network, attend one of many events offered to the larger Cornell community, or explore the many academic and social offerings for the LGBTQ+ community at Cornell. Many faculty and staff also collaborate with the LGBT Resource Center to organize presentations, panels, and other events across campus to assist with creating an even more inclusive campus community. Our main mission in the center is to support LGBTQ+ students. Although we do not provide direct support to faculty and staff, our greater mission still aims to benefit all in the LGBTQ+ community on campus.  Staff from the LGBT Resource Center collaborated with the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity to create a resource guide designed to support Cornell employees in creating an inclusive campus for all students, faculty, and staff. See the full guide here. 

Alumni Involvement

 Click here to join the LGBTQIA+ Alumni Association.

First organized in 1979 and then incorporated in 1980 as the Cornell University Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association (CUGALA), is one of the oldest and largest LGBT university alumni organizations in the country. In 2020, they voted to change their name to Cornell Pride LGBTQIA+ Alumni Association (Cornell Pride). Over the past several decades, Cornell Pride has grown from a handful of individuals to a network of over 3,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender alumni and straight allies—each with a unique story but collectively committed to making Cornell a more supportive and inclusive place for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Cornell Pride’s mission is to foster community among and build stronger connections between Cornell's LGBTQ+ alumni and students, staff, faculty, parents, and straight allies. They achieve their mission in a variety of ways, such as sponsoring social and networking events on campus and across the United States, participating in community service and student mentorship programs, organizing regional chapters, and supporting LGBTQ+ initiatives and institutions at Cornell both financially and through leadership. Cornell Pride also serves as the voice of LGBTQ+ alumni to the Cornell Alumni Association and Cornell Mosaic, and regularly cosponsors events with other Cornell alumni groups and the LGBTA+ alumni organizations of other colleges and universities.