The Stonewall Resource Center (SRC) kicked off its 2025-26 programming with the Big Gay Welcome Back Picnic, part of a slate of cultural center welcome week events that also included a taco truck in celebration of the Latinx/e Cultural Center’s (LCC) grand opening and a barbecue at the Conney M. Kimbo Black Cultural Center (BCC).
The picnic, held on Thursday, Sept. 4, gave LGBTQ+ students, staff and allies a place to build community and begin a new semester together with outdoor games, music and a buffet.
“I hope it’s really visible. That’s why we call it the Big Gay Welcome Back Picnic, so that everybody feels like they can be here,” said Micho Adler, Assistant Director of Intercultural Affairs and LGBTQIA+ Student Specialist at the College’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
They said the picnic was just the first piece of an expanded schedule of the SRC and that the office of DEI sponsored events planned for this year.
Adler said the office of DEI focuses on celebrating heritage months. “October is LGBTQ history month, so we’re going to have events every week, except during fall break,” Adler added, who also said students can look forward to a professional drag show during the month.
“The college experience can be a real shock to the system, experiencing so much novelty at once,” said Vrinda Varia, associate chief diversity officer.
“Finding the people and support structures that affirm and celebrate you, simply for being you, is deeply important to one’s sense of belonging.”
Many at the picnic echoed Varia’s statement on the importance of finding community in a new space.
“I’m really glad that Grinnell College has this community, because it makes my overall college experience much safer,” said Xander Napier `28. “There’s a lot of joy to that, not just feeling safe, but also feeling actually accepted,” he added.
Owen Sterup `29 came to the picnic with a group of friends he had met in the Peer Connections Pre-Orientation Program (PCPOP). After visiting the SRC for the first time, he said he was impressed by the amount of effort that Grinnell seemed to put into welcoming LGBTQ+ students.
“It’s great to be able to meet more people that are, first of all, my age, second of all, actually in person, so I don’t have to rely on online communities, for instance and third, just genuinely proud of who they are,” said Jax Sylvester `28, another picnic attendee.
The event was also a chance for student-run LGBTQ+ organizations to advertise themselves and welcome new members. One such organization was the Asexual and Aromantic Spectrum Support Network (AASSN), co-led by Maya Flynn `26.
“When I was a first year coming into Grinnell, I was pretty sure I was ace [asexual], but had never talked to an ace person before. I was shocked at how many people at Grinnell are ace, and I just think it’s a great way to find community,” Flynn said of the AASSN.
The SRC is joined in Younker Pit this year by Lavender Hall, Grinnell’s first ever LGBTQ+ specific housing community. Lavender Hall is the result of a collaboration between Residence Life (ResLife) and the SRC and is one of four Residential Affinity Housing Experiences (RAHEs) open this year, along with First Gen House, Sawubona House and the LCC.
The hall is now the largest RAHE on campus, according to its Community Advisor Kimmy Vergara `26.
Vergara says the name was chosen due to the historic significance of lavender for the LGBTQ+ community.
The “Lavender Scare” of the 1950s and 1960s cracked down on civil rights for LGBTQ+ people, and the color has since been reclaimed as a symbol of the queer community. The hallway is painted lavender, and Vergara said they have also considered coordinating with ResLife to paint a mural on the walls.
“We’ve had movie nights, we’ve had cookouts and stuff. It really feels like this is the space that I’ve always looked for in college, especially now in my fourth year,” said Vergara, adding that they felt lucky to be a part of such a close-knit and accepting community.
Their tentative plans for hall events include a haunted house and collaborations with the nearby SRC.
“I think that college is that time in your life when you have to get used to living with other people,” Vergara said. “And I think this is very important to a lot of people who didn’t have that in high school, because now when you leave your room, it doesn’t feel like you’re kind of out of the norm, or putting on a mask to be like everyone else. Everyone in this floor is very unique and has something to contribute to Grinnell and to themselves.”
