Brown and White Vol. 126 no. 17

              Vol. 126 No. 17
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Astor dominates
at S.C. meet
Page 12
ONLINE
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Loose Threads:
a student favorite Page 5
LIFESTYLE
Spectrum-sponsored drag show fundraises for The Trevor Project
Conference focuses on LGBT issues
By ALI KAMINETSKY
Spectrum’s 10th annual “Illusions” Drag Show was held in Lamberton Hall on Thursday night.
The theme for the night was “From Zero to Drag Hero.” Lamberton was abuzz with excitement as both students and professionals took the stage to perform.
While the event itself was free, audi­ence members were asked to bring dol­lar bills to express their appreciation by “tipping” performers. All proceeds from the night benefited The Trevor Project.
Founded in 1998, The Trevor Proj­ect’s mission is “to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources including our nationwide, 24/7 crisis interven­tion lifeline, digital community and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive and positive environment for everyone,” according to its website.
The Trevor Project serves more than 100,000 LGBTQ youth every year. It is the only national organization that
By JASON PITONYAK
Former assistant managing editor of The Washington Post and Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson shared his experiences as an African-Ameri­can columnist growing up in the late 1960s on Thursday to a packed Baker Hall.
Robinson explained that the 1960s was a time filled with adversity and segregation of all kinds for blacks, es­pecially in the South.
Growing up in Orangeburg, S.C., he had a different perspective on the society than most of his Southern black contemporaries.
Robinson said he grew up thinking most blacks had college educations.
This was not the case for the major­ity of the Southern African-American community at this time, but he said his perspective was a product of the unique situation that he was immersed in.
He said that he excelled in geom­etry and writing as student throughout high school and college.As a first-year student at the University of Michigan, he won a school-wide writing contest that awarded him $100 which “at the time, was actually quite a lot of mon­ey,” he said.
He explained that this was one of the defining moments in his life that sparked his journey to become one of the most prominent African-American columnists of his time.
In addition to the more inspiring
By EMILY LAN
The third annual LGBTQIA Intercollegiate Con­ference was held at Lehigh on Friday. Attendees from across the Lehigh Valley were given the oppor­tunity to learn about a wide variety of LGBT issues.
The theme of the conference was “Finding Your Voice.”
“People think that it’s just a Lehigh conference, so it’s not going to be a big thing,” Lauren Riford, ’14, said. “They see that it’s a Lehigh conference, but it’s intercollegiate. It’s not going to be a small event.”
“We’ve had 130 people register for the confer­ence, and 12 different schools from the region,” said Trish Boyles, director of Lehigh’s LGBTQIA program.
Lafayette College, Muhlenberg College, Moravian College and Northampton Community College are all co-sponsoring the event, so it’s a great networking opportunity, Riford said.
As a senior, this year’s conference was not Ri­ford’s first.
“Seeing people in a different community doing the same work is a very enlightening experience,” she said.
Organizations like fraternities have asked for pan­els to discuss more proper ways to address people in the LGBT community, but this conference is the per­fect opportunity to jump into learning about LGBT issues, Riford said.
“So much of the progress that the people of LG­BTQIA have come has done so from finding their voice,” Boyles said. “Being able to come out in some public way and then being able to use their voice for advocacy and the community.
“It’s a powerful way to think about what we’re doing here today.”
Community members were given the skills to find their voice with a variety of presentations about strengthening presence on social media, being com­fortable as an LGBTQIA in a work setting and more.
“I think the only problem may be figuring out which session you’d like to attend,” Boyles said as she helped kick off the conference.
“All the presenters are high-level, and more people than ever wanted to present at the conference this year,” Riford said.
B&W photos by DAVE CANFIELD
LEFT: Professional drag burlesque performer Andrea Jean lip-syncs during their act during Thursday’s “Illusions” drag show. The Notorious OMG emcees the event, which was open to all members of the Lehigh community.
Robinson speaks on segregation, personal journey
See SHOW Page 4
See ROBINSON Page 4
See CONFERENCE Page 4
n Friday’s conference aimed to promote openness, camaraderie and individuality. The event welcomed all those who were interested.
n The journalist spoke Thursday in Baker Hall about his experiences with racism.