SHADES is dedicated to fostering connections between the multicultural Same-Gender Loving (SGL), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender students of Ohio University. We welcome people of color who are at various stages of understanding the coming out process, questioning or accepting their sexuality and/or understanding the SGL/LGBT community.
SHADES is an organization intended to create a safe environment and a support system with which its members can speak freely. For this reason, we request that each member respect the privacy of others and maintain the confidentiality of any discussions or interaction within the group that takes place.
We hope, by establishing such a pioneering organization on Ohio University's increasingly diverse campus, that SHADES will be able to help cultivate the minds, bodies, and souls of our members. By providing sanctuary and building a growing network of different individuals who share similar experiences living as SGL/LGBT people of color, we hope to raise the sense of self-worth, identity, and community in our members and inspire each and every one of them to take full pride in their "pride."
SHADES will be able to help cultivate the minds, bodies, and souls of our members...
At an institution of higher learning that praises diversity, we hope to bridge the gaps between the dominant LGBT community and
Multicultural communities on campus as well as the rest of Ohio University community as a whole. By raising awareness surrounding the duality of
issues faced by SGL/LGBT people of color, creating dynamic programs and activities, active participation at campus involvement fairs, stimulating
an ongoing dialogue throughout the campus about these issues, and actively recruiting non-SGL/LGBT allies, we intend to make our vision a reality. SHADES will begin to place great emphasis on the necessity of activenon-SGL/LGBT allies, because without the valuable help and support of allies, our efforts for not only acceptance, but nurturance and equality would be nearly pointless.
Aside from being featured in a number of local and national articles, which
can be seen on our article page, SHADES, as well as individual members have
received a number of awards on campus???
~ Dean of Students' Citation
(Presented to SHADES at the Leadership Recognition Reception)
~ NAACP Image Award
(Excellence in Community Outreach for "Bridging the Gap")
~ Best Program
(Day of Silence / "Breaking the Silence" with Staceyann Chin)
~ Most Committed/Dedicated
~ Most Brave and Bold
(Former SHADES President, Evan Robinson)
*After a very effective discussion involving the intersections of race and sexuality and the implications it has not only on campus, but in the greater community at our Jan. 30th meeting, the members of SHADES have come to an agreement that our meetings should alternate between both the LGBT Programs Center and the Multicultural Programs Center.