New student organization providing Scholars with resources and community Gender and Sexual Diversity in Schreyer (GSDS) is a new registered student organization founded by Scholars in October that aims to create a more inclusive environment for the LGBTQIA+ community in the Honors College.
Mission
The mission of the Schreyer Honors College is to promote: • Achieving academic excellence with integrity • Building a global perspective, and • Creating opportunities for leadership and civic engagement
Vision
To educate people who will have an important and ethical influence in the world, affecting academic, professional, civic, social, and business outcomes. To improve educational practice and to continue to be recognized as a leading force in honors education nationwide.
History of the Schreyer Honors College The Schreyer Honors College is a leading force in honors education. Under the leadership of director Paul Axt, Penn State launched the University Scholars Program in 1980. In September 1997, William and Joan Schreyer presented a $30 million gift, and the College was expanded and renamed in their honor. A gift of an additional $25 million in 2006 was part of the “For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students.” In the last four decades, more than 15,000 Penn State graduates have earned the distinction of being a Scholar.
Although the group was forced to hold meetings via Zoom for its first year due to the pandemic, it established an executive board and counted more than a dozen Scholars in biweekly meetings held throughout the fall and spring semesters and roughly twice that many in its online group chat. Forming numerous partnerships with organizations across campus, including Counseling and Psychological Services, the AIDS Resource Center, Penn State Career Services, and the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, GSDS held workshops that explored inclusive language, networking, healthy relationships, and sexual health. “Overall, we just want to foster a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community in Schreyer,” said GSDS President Jake Snyder, a second-year Scholar majoring in biology, “because we do a lot of collaborative outreach to expose our general body to campus at large, but also provide mental and sexual health resources.” The organization’s leadership is excited for the chance to grow its membership when students return to campus in the fall. GSDS also plans to partner with Scholar alumni to create a mentoring network and to obtain representation on the University Park Undergraduate Association. “I feel like without having this community, I was kind of forced to choose what kind of organizations I wanted to be a part of on campus, and it was like, do you want to find something that’s in Schreyer, or find something that’s queer?” said GSDS Secretary Cassidy Pitts, a
second-year Scholar majoring in biomedical engineering. “This gave me a way to merge those things and find my community in both of my communities in that way.” GSDS also supported students in other ways; when students went home for winter break, the executive board offered to check in with members to ensure they felt safe in their home environments. And while GSDS is about creating and maintaining a safe space and community within the College for Scholars, it is also about empowering them to be leaders in other campus organizations and outside of Penn State. “We, as leaders, can inspire other people to be leaders in the spaces that they occupy, and actively advocate for themselves as LGBTQIA+ people in whatever field or profession they’re pursuing,” Snyder said. “It’s important for us to stand our ground and take up space in spaces that aren’t necessarily inclusive for us.”
Support Scholar wellness through the Dr. Michele “Mitch” Kirsch Fund at raise.psu.edu/MitchKirsch
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