A new event, recognizing leadership in or support of the 2SLGBTQ1A+ community, will be launched at StFX this year when the first annual Pride of StFX Awards Breakfast takes place during StFX Homecoming.
The breakfast is scheduled to take place at the Keating Centre on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 8 a.m., where two awards will be presented—recognizing both an alumnus and a fourth year student who have shown leadership and contribution to the community. The student will also receive a $500 bursary.
“We have some really great momentum on campus. People are living more authentically and finding community and safety. The thinking was that we can expand that into the alumni network,” says Aimee MacDonald, StFX Gender and Sexual Diversity Advisor, who initiated the idea, and who is also celebrating her 20th reunion during Homecoming.
Ms. MacDonald said the idea for an event came to her earlier this year when she saw the momentum taking place at StFX. Additionally, in speaking with fellow StFX alumni, none of whom were out while students a couple of decades ago, she says they too noticed the positive change on campus, that the environment was different.
She began to think it would be powerful to come together, to have a homecoming event.
That visibility is so important, she notes, as with more visibility comes less fear.
Ms. MacDonald originally thought about starting a queer alumni chapter, so she approached StFX Alumni Affairs Director Shanna Hopkins, who with her team started to mold the idea for this event. They connected Ms. MacDonald with Marc Rodrigue, past president of the StFX Alumni Association, and the idea grew into the breakfast event and awards.
“I want to expand on this change, to bring this community together,” Ms. MacDonald says.
“With the creation of this event, students here will now have that community.”
Drawing from her own experience, Ms. MacDonald says her time at StFX was tremendous, but notes how much more it could have been if she had seen more diversity at the time.
“I bleed blue and white, but that extra piece would have been amazing, that feeling of belonging, that feeling of community, that feeling that you matter.”
Ms. MacDonald says there has definitely been a change on campus. For example, X-Pride is one of the largest societies on campus and last year won StFX’s Society of the Year award, staging the most events of any organization with 37 events during the academic year. A recent drag bingo also drew a standing-room only crowd.
Mr. Rodrigue will deliver the keynote address at the breakfast. Tickets cost $20 for alumni and $10 for students, although Ms. MacDonald notes some faculty and community members have bought extra tickets to cover students who may not have the resources to attend.
Anyone interested in nominating someone for an award is asked to provide two letters of support to @email. Nominations close Sept. 22, 2022.
