For some LGBTQA students, especially those whose home environments are not as supportive or safe as their college campus, studying remotely has added another layer of stress to an already difficult time.
Recognizing that these students require continuing support, some colleges and universities—including Bowdoin—have been creatively extending resources to them throughout the pandemic.
Since last spring, SWAG has sent out weekly email newsletters to LGBTQ students and shifted many of its programs to a virtual format, including "Quinner," its popular weekly dinner for queer students and their allies (or "breakfast, lunch, whatever time zone they might be in!" Associate Director of SWAG Rachel Reinke said).
"Since so much of what SWAG offers to queer students revolves around community spaces and connection, we had to rethink what that would look like in the context of not being able to be physically together," Reinke told the magazine.
Both Reinke and Kate Stern, director of SWAG, are putting the same thoughtfulness into creating spring semester programming. "We want to welcome back the students who weren't here in the fall and work hard to maintain relationships with students we just met this fall," Stern said.
Much of the programming at the start of the semester will be virtual, including two community book reads (SWAG is inviting students to read and talk about The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love, by Sonya Taylor, and Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex, by Angela Chen.) Additionally, events to celebrate Herstory Month, in March, will be mostly virtual.
These happenings, plus others Stern and Reinke are planning, are meant to bring together students from all class years who are studying both on and off campus. These opportunities will be especially important to students off campus, Stern said.
"I am very aware from talking to our students that being off campus can be isolating," she said, "and finding a place for community, finding a place to connect into SWAG can be a validating and refreshing break."
At the same time, to ensure students on campus have opportunities to meet, SWAG will be hosting small, in-person gatherings, much like the "quesserts" they offered first-year and upperclass students in the fall. Instead of getting together to share meals, students will be able to come together, wearing masks, and then grab a treat on the way out.
