On April 12th, there was an event called Dreaming of Queer Inclusion. This was set up by Center for Peace and Justice students Kory Schaeffer, Mary Moll, and also education professor Kathy Evans. This event was set up to plan what to do with a recent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) grant that Schaeffer and Evans had received this past Jan. This grant was given to the two of them to try to help with queer inclusion on campus. They wanted to use this grant to do training for the staff here to make them more aware of LGBTQ+ issues and just how to interact with the community in general. So Evans and Schaeffer decided to host an event to hear what LGBTQ+ students and allies, and staff had to say and what they thought should be added to the training that is being made.
Korey Schaeffer started to go to CJP a couple of years ago, while Schaeffer originally went to JMU and got a degree in health sciences. Then after 2015, Schaeffer went abroad and spent some time out of the country. When Schaeffer returned in 2019, he was a lot more interested in social justice and wanted to work more on these kinds of issues. Before he started at CJP, he had some interaction with the Mennonite community, but not a lot.
Schaeffer said, “I think that it is important to have discussions like this, especially since James Madison University has had some Transphobic speakers. I think that it is telling and essential that EMU is trying to do better and learn more and fix their mistakes.” Schaeffer kept saying that it was important for EMU to have something like this. EMU has a history of being homophobic and connected to the Mennonite church, which has been harmful to the LGBTQ+ community. Schaeffer said, “It was nice to see everyone that came out and participated; it is nice to see how much support there is on a religious campus that has a history of being bad on this issue and being homophobic. It is nice to see the change that is happening at this school.”
Indigo, a Junior who attended the event, said, “I enjoyed it; I feel very good and optimistic about how many people showed up but daunted by how much has to be done to try to make things better here at EMU.”
Sophomore Tyler Williams said, “I had to get to the dinner late, but walking in was probably the easiest thing to do. The space was welcoming, and I walked into a discussion about what could improve on campus/what we’re dreaming of in the future of EMU. I appreciated having that space available to voice concerns and wishes of mine.”
