After a lot of push and pull in the last year, Algonquin College has finally opened its Pride Centre.
The centre, located in B-102, is designed to be a space for students to get together, address concerns, obtain resources and learn about the Queer Straight Alliance group that is active here on campus.
“It’s about time Algonquin has something of this capacity for our students to feel like they can be themselves,” said Algonquin College President Cheryl Jensen.
As a result of requests from students, the space includes a private space for counselling, an open area for events and a small library with resources that students can borrow.
The centre is run by coordinator Quinn Blue, who was hired by the SA to help run it, offer peer support and refer students to other services and resources they might need.
Blue has several years of experience working in queer and trans youth work and is excited to start working with Algonquin students.
“I love that it’s going to continue to grow,” said Blue. “What’s really exciting, is that the space allows a lot of space for the students on campus to make it what they want it to be.”
Last year, members of the QSA circulated a petition around campus that gained over 300 signatures in support of the centre. Members of the group agree that collecting signatures helped push the SA board of directors to get on board with the idea.
As a result, past SA president Sara Loyst pushed to get the Pride Centre open when it came to her attention that Algonquin students were being sent to the University of Ottawa and Carleton University to get the help and resources they were searching for.
Although the centre is officially up and running now, there will be a more formal celebration to come mid-late November.
“It barely opened in time for this school year, so for the meantime they have had a ‘soft opening’,” said current SA president Egor Evseev.
Evseev emphasized that the space is currently fully functional and open for students, but that the SA wants to have enough time to properly prepare a “grand opening celebration.”
“This is so exciting for the SA and the college, but it has also been a long time coming,” said Evseev. “We want to make sure that it gets the big celebration that it deserves.”