The first Lavender Graduation ceremony was held at the University of Michigan in 1995. Dr. Ronni Sanlo began the tradition after being denied the opportunity to attend her children’s graduations because of her sexual orientation. Today, hundreds of colleges and universities offer Lavender Graduation ceremonies for their students. EMU held its first Lavender Graduation in 2022.

Since its inaugural ceremony, EMU’s Lavender Graduation has honored 76 graduates and alumni over the past five years, according to Jonathan Swartz, dean of students.

“This time tonight is a declaration that your identities deserve to be celebrated,” he told graduates on Friday, “not just tolerated, not just accepted, but uplifted with pride, love, and joy.”

Jamila Gaskins MA ’26 (conflict transformation), a speaker at Friday’s Lavender Graduation ceremony, receives a rainbow stole from Dr. Kathy Evans, professor of teacher education and director of the undergraduate teacher education program.

Erin Batten ’26 (left) served as emcee for the ceremony, while Sarah Peak ’26 (right) delivered the undergraduate keynote address.

Erin Batten ’26, a liberal arts graduate from Bridgewater, Virginia, performed music and served as emcee for the ceremony. Sarah Peak ’26 and Jamila Gaskins MA ’26 (conflict transformation) delivered the keynote addresses.

Peak, a psychology and peacebuilding graduate from Sanford, North Carolina, recalled her first day at EMU. During move-in, a protester stood across from the residence halls holding a sign condemning people in the LGBTQ+ community.

“At that moment, all my fears came true,” she said. “But within minutes, students and faculty assembled with flags and signs supporting the queer community on campus, and Tyler Goss pulled out the queerest playlist possible, which I’m partially convinced he curated specifically for moments like that one.”

Students passed out bottles of water, she said, not only to one another but also to the protester. “It was then that I realized I was in the right place, that I was joining a community that truly cared for everyone, and that I would be cared for, even when others did not agree with that notion.”

Gaskins, a Center for Justice and Peacebuilding alumna from Los Angeles, encouraged graduates to question society’s binary expectations and challenge existing systems.

“You are graduating into a world that will hand you a blueprint about who you should be, what success looks like, what fights are worth having, what compromises are necessary, and which possibilities are realistic,” she said.

The world needs people who can imagine what does not yet exist, she said. “It needs people who can say, ‘I know this isn’t how it’s done, but here’s how it could be done,’ and who can hold the image of a more just world clearly enough to take the next step toward it.”

A dance party was held in the Old Common Grounds space following the Lavender Graduation ceremony, continuing the celebration.

Dr. Kathy Evans (left) provides the grounding moment at the start of the ceremony. She presents a stole to a graduate (right).

Lavender Graduation also included a moment of solidarity, silence, and visibility for those who are not out nor will ever be out. Dr. Kathy Evans, professor of teacher education and director of the undergraduate teacher education program, and Dawn Neil, coordinator for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, presented the stoles to the graduates.

This year, the ceremony recognized 17 graduates. Dr. Kathy Evans, professor of teacher education, and Dr. Heike Peckruhn, associate professor of religious studies, bestowed the graduates with rainbow stoles to wear at Commencement. Cassidy Williams ’25 and Dr. Stephanie D. Powell, assistant professor of Hebrew bible, provided keynote addresses.

The first Lavender Graduation ceremony was celebrated at the University of Michigan in 1995. Dr. Ronni Sanlo began the tradition after being denied to her own children’s graduations because of her sexual identity. Today, more than 200 colleges and universities offer Lavender Graduation ceremonies for their students. The first of these at EMU was held in 2022. 

Incoming EMU interim president Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus, vice president for student affairs, equity, and belonging, delivered the welcome and EMU greeting at the ceremony. She shared the history of safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students at EMU, beginning with the off-campus Open Door support group in the mid-’90s and continuing through the creation of Safe Space—a student group pivotal in advocating for EMU’s 2015 hiring policy change that allowed the employment of openly queer faculty and staff. Since its inaugural ceremony in 2022, EMU’s Lavender Graduation has honored 65 graduates and alumni over the past four years.

“To our graduates today, you’ve done something extraordinary,” Dycus said. “You’ve navigated a world that has not always made space for you. You’ve pursued knowledge in classrooms that didn’t always reflect your identity, claiming the right for your visibility, and still you rose. You showed up, you spoke up, and you pushed forward.”

Williams, who graduated with degrees in music and education licensure (PreK-12), likened life’s journey to a road with bends and guardrails, lots of potholes, and that “one stretch of construction the county swears will be finished by summer.” She advised graduates to lean into uncertainty and embrace change with open arms, even when it might be stressful or terrifying. 

“Learn to live with your mistakes and the embarrassing moments that keep you up at night,” Williams said. “Learn to live with the people who love you and learn to live civilly with the people who don’t. Learn what helps you and learn what harms you. Learn your strengths and your weaknesses. Learn to recognize your strengths and to not back away or undermine your worth.”

Powell, who joined the EMU faculty at the start of the 2024-25 academic year, shared her journey in finding a welcoming community where she felt belonging. She had come out as a lesbian before applying to graduate school and knew she wanted to attend a seminary where she could be her authentic self and be accepted by her teachers and peers. She found that community at Chicago Theological Seminary, where she earned her master of divinity.

“Each of you is about to embark on new adventures with many new choices in front of you,” she said. “That may be continuing your education or beginning a new job, it might be choosing a new place to live, starting a family, traveling, starting a business. You have a right to choose the people, the places, and experiences that will allow you to be who you are. You have the right to live in a community where you find the freedom to live to your full self.”

The ceremony also featured a moment of solidarity, silence, and visibility for those who are not out, nor will ever be out.

Dr. Kathy Evans delivered opening remarks. Indigo Gott ’24 served as emcee. Riley Quezada ’24, Cassidy Williams ’25, Emma Nord ’25, and Canyon Penner ’25 performed music.

EMU hosted its third annual Lavender Graduation on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in the Old Common Grounds space (University Commons 177). 

The event honors LGBTQ+ graduates and alumni of all races and ethnicities, and celebrates their unique experiences, achievements and contributions to the university.

This year, the ceremony recognized 17 graduates from the LGBTQ+ community. Kathy Evans, professor of teacher education, and Heike Peckruhn, associate professor of religious studies, bestowed the graduates with rainbow stoles to wear at Commencement. Class of 2024 graduates Riley Quezada and Kory Schaeffer provided keynote addresses, sharing their own stories about being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

The first Lavender Graduation ceremony was celebrated at the University of Michigan in 1995. Ronni Sanlo began the tradition after being denied to her own children’s graduations because of her sexual identity. Today, more than 200 colleges and universities offer Lavender Graduation ceremonies for their students. The first of these at EMU was held in 2022.

Jackie Font-Guzmán, vice president of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, reflected on the recent progress made at EMU while acknowledging some of the work left to be done. She cited the LGBTQ+ History Month keynote delivered by transgender woman and health and equity advocate Tori Cooper in October, the renaming of Safe Space to Queer Student Alliance and the community’s participation in the filming of Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid as a few of the accomplishments of the graduating class.

“You have transformed our campus, and I have no doubt that you will all transform the world,” Font-Guzmán told the graduates on Saturday. 

‘Leaps and bounds of progress’

Quezada, a music education major from Mount Jackson, Virginia, and Cords of Distinction recipient, spoke about how their experience at EMU helped them feel comfortable in embracing their true identity.

“We all remember our first year here in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Quezada said. “That was a crazy year, but it was also the year I decided to let myself be fully and authentically me.”

When Quezada applied to EMU, all their paperwork was under their “dead name,” and they were planning to keep it that way. But, after interacting with “the amazing professors here” and getting to know their many accepting friends, Quezada said “I knew it was safe to change my name and my pronouns to my preferred ones.”

“From there, I found my voice, and I knew that I had to be a voice for those who felt just like me, those who were scared of coming into their own skin and becoming themselves,” they said. “Being active in advocacy and making sure that everyone’s voice is heard was something I didn’t know that I could do, but I am grateful to have been that person for people on campus.”

“There is so much visibility on campus, and EMU has made leaps and bounds of progress. But there’s still work to be done, and I’m excited to see what else this campus does,” they added.

Schaeffer, a Harrisonburg, Virginia, native who graduated from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding with a master’s degree in conflict transformation, spoke about his days in middle school and the bullying he endured. 

“I felt like I was walking the halls with a target on my back,” he said, “because something was different inside me and everyone around me could tell.”

And so, for the first 20 years of his life, he said, he hid his sexuality because “I understood my survival depended on it.”

But, at EMU, he’s found a space of belonging where he feels accepted and recognized.

“For the past two years, I have walked the grounds of ��ݮ���� as an open, proud, vulnerable, and authentic person, not hiding the bits of me that so many of us have had to keep secret on this campus for so long,” Schaeffer said. “And this is remarkable.”

The event also featured a moment of solidarity, silence and visibility for those who are not out nor will ever be out.

Heike Peckruhn delivered opening remarks. Erin Bruemmer ’24 served as emcee. Riley Quezada, Tyler Williams and Emma Nord performed music.