Queer Joy is Magical

The Pride Committee presents Queer Prom

and more value to people now that we are able to do stuff again.”

During quarantine, events hosted by Rainbow Coalition and Lambda Alliance like queer gallery showcases and friendship speed dating were held virtually through a program called Gather Town, which maximized its interactive properties by combining video game elements and Zoom link pop-ups. While most gatherings are held in person now, Lambda Alliance President Kell Hoofnagle ’24 pointed out that Pride Week proves the ongoing legacy of the pandemic.

“I think it’s only been as big as it’s been for the last three years,” Hoofnagle said in reference to Pride Week. “I think before that, it was only a one day event. … Pride Fest was the thing we’ve been doing for a couple more than three years, but it used to be just Pride Fest, and now I think Vincent really helped expand it to what it is now.”

According to SheaBerry, Queer Prom as of 2023 has officially existed for six years, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was routinely scheduled for the same day as Pride Fest. However, a weeklong program with only two in-person events was adopted in light of social distancing measures, which laid the general framework for the fun-filled festivities that continue to flourish to this day.

“When I was put in charge of planning these things, I asked if people wanted to continue that format, and they said yes,” SheaBerry said. “So it’s been a full week with seven plus events ever since.”

Preparations for this year’s Pride Week started as far back as October 2022, and unfortunately, a few obstacles had arisen by the time it premiered in April. One challenge was raising enough money through internal fundraising and external donations, as Queer Prom was not funded by the College’s Student Assembly in the way that Pride Fest and the drag showcase were. Another hurdle was booking the necessary spaces, but SheaBerry expressed a grateful satisfaction with regards to the final location of the event.

“We feel very happy getting the Andrews Hall space so that we could do the dance in a way that was in the middle of campus,” SheaBerry said. “So regardless of if you walk, bike or drive to campus, anyone could come to that space and celebrate. It was hard, but we are very proud of how it came out.”

SheaBerry spearheaded the planning and orchestration of this year’s Queer Prom, as well as Pride Week as a whole, and he has been an integral part of the process since he transferred to the College in 2021. Next year’s Pride programming will be headed by Hoofnagle, who helped administer and aid with the project for the last two years.

“It’s the culmination of hundreds of hours of work so that it can run as smoothly as possible for these people to get the festivities they deserve on campus,” SheaBerry said. “I’m sad to be stepping away from running the Pride Committee, but I am a little bit happy to have a little bit of that time back and know that Pride is in good hands for years to come.”

Hoofnagle has already taken the time to start planning out how the budgeting will go. In light of this endeavor, they have suggested that perhaps next year’s Queer Prom theme might relate to rocks, especially since it was a frontrunner on this year’s Google form, just after this year’s final theme: “Queer Joy is Magical.” They connected the theme to the reason why they continue to devote themselves to this task.

“I think it’s important because people deserve to know that other people who are like them are gathering in community and that is a joyful thing and a thing to be celebrated,” Hoofnagle said. “You are not alone. We are here with you.”

Queer Prom would not have been possible without Pride Committee, which included members of Rainbow Coalition, members of Lambda Alliance and even some non-members looking to lend a hand. The committee was further divided into sub-committees focusing on event planning and logistics, finance and marketing and communications, all with the collective goal of creating the best event possible. Szumigala was a member of the first of these three groups, and she shared the motivation behind her participation as a desire to get involved.

“I wanted to get more involved on campus my second semester, and after all of my club exec positions had kind of run their course, I wanted to still be involved on campus,” Szumigala said. “And as a queer person myself, I felt like this was something that merged those two interests really well.”

On the marketing and communications side of Queer Prom setup, word of the dance was spread through a myriad of mediums. Physical posters were pinned across campus walls, brick paths were chalked, and information was shared with different campus institutions such as Student Assembly and the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Department. The subcommittee also utilized online mediums by distributing details through GroupMe, listservs and Instagram accounts. Queer Prom attendee Lauren Cook ’26 stressed that this kind of visibility serves a wider purpose at the College.

“I think the more times Pride happens, the more William and Mary is going to realize that it’s important to their students, and maybe they’ll change what they do for the College as a whole when they see how their students are reflecting that,” Cook said.

Altogether, SheaBerry defined success for Queer Prom as being able to bring a smile to the face of another student here on campus. He weighed in on the importance of delivering on this goal, especially in the greater environment surrounding the College.

“Finding a safe queer space is hard, especially in Williamsburg, Virginia,” SheaBerry said. “So even just having one student come and enjoy Queer Prom means it’s a success in my book.”

Szumigala, who tended to the check-in desk for the duration of the event, observed that her post gave her the unique opportunity to catch sight of how everyone was making the most of the night.

“[Success is] being able to observe everyone around me,” Szumigala said. “Everyone is talking to somebody — they’re involved in some way, they’re dancing, they’re picking up pride flags, like anything like that. So I would definitely describe it as a success in that way.” pages have been relatively inactive for some time, its Instagram page remains active, with frequent posts of its most recent publications. A link to each social media account can be found on the newspaper’s main website, where all of its articles and publications can be found.

Since officially joining the College’s Publications Council, now known as the Media Council, in 2012, The BotetourtSquathasbeenabletoreceiveofficialfundingfor its paper issues. The entirety of their budget goes towards publishing their papers in a presentable and high quality.

Newly printed issues of The Botetourt Squat are located around campus in places like the first floor of the Integrated Science Center and in Sadler’s Aromas, allowingstudentsthechancetograbacopyforthemselves.

Walking through the College of William and Mary’s Sadler Center, an unassuming prospective student picks up a newspaper, anticipating obtaining the latest news on the College. Hoping to understand what the construction around campus suggests for the College’s future, the prospective student is instead met with satire stacked upon satire. Mockery lined the pages, and ridicule embedded within each and every paragraph. This prospective student picked up The Botetourt Squat, the College’s satirical newspaper.

The Botetourt Squat was founded in 2011 by freshmen of the College, with the name deriving from their meeting point: the Botetourt Complex. Printed monthly and digitally updated biweekly, the newspaper publishes satirical articles about an assortment of topics that are bizarre and outlandish yet still typically relate to the student life at the College. Articles such as “Maze of Fences to be Placed Around Swem for Student Enrichment,”

“The Fog is Coming” and “The Fog is Already Here” highlight the publication’s relevance to the student body. Written under comedic pseudonyms, the articles often have fictional figures to help further the author’s storyline; furthermore, the jokes have little parameters aside from bigotry and hate, which the organization strongly stands against.

“There’s very much a principle about not punching down,” Botetourt Squat member John Riegner ’23 said. “So you can make fun of someone who’s on an equal level to you or an authority over you … but you’re not going to make fun of someone who’s less privileged, less influential, and you’re not going to attack someone random.”

With staff members taking inspiration from or writing about anything remotely funny, pitching ideas at The Botetourt Squat has no set practice. Oftentimes, individuals unaffiliated with the newspaper write an article on their own and send it in to be published. However, the articles must be thoroughly vetted before publication.

“If someone submits an article … clearly not ill intentioned but could come off wrong, then we’re not going to publish that. We might say, ‘Hey, we know this isn’t what you meant, but we can publish it if you want to revise it to get rid of that potentially objectionable stuff,’” Riegner said.

With no standard custom to pitching ideas, the club’s primary communication channel, Discord, is typically used to send in article ideas, pitch potential headlines and communicate generally. Oftentimes headlines are thrown out in the Discord for other staff writers to create an article; when members suggest an article, others will suggest ways to enhance it. For school-wide events, such as Day for Admitted Students, the editor-in-chief typically uses the Discord to encourage members to write on the occasion, taking advantage of the topical opportunity.

Beyond communicating through Discord, the club meets in-person weekly. Meetings range from informative writing workshops on satire and graphics to brainstorm sessions for article ideas. The first half of the semester is heavier with introductions and workshops while the latter end is calmer with many fun brainstorming and bonding opportunities.

“I was in ISC, and there was just a pile there, and I was like ‘Oh, what’s this?” Naomi Teferra ’26, a student who enjoys reading The Botetourt Squat, said. “My friend who was a sophomore told me. Then I was like, ‘Oh that’s cute,’ so I picked it up and started reading it.”

The satirical newspaper, because of its widespread distribution, often has many people reading it for the first time when they stumble across it. And many of these readers, such as Maya Banerji ’26, turn from first-time readers to long-time supporters.

“I remember I thought it was really funny the first time I read it, and I still think it’s funny when I read it,” Banerji said.

In addition to its printed copies, The Botetourt Squat also has a digital presence across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. While its TikTok and YouTube

The website houses useful contact information and instructions on how to contribute to the newspaper, regardless of whether a student wants to join the organization as a member or just submit a one-off article to be published. The club is open to reviewing all article submissions and to new members. Moreover, members can be as active as they desire, whether that means just writingwithoutattendingmeetingsorattendingallevents.

“People can come to our meetings whenever … If people want to write but can’t come to the meetings, that’s also perfectly accepted. People can join however they want and be as active as they want,” Reigner said.

The Botetourt Squat has allowed journalists and comedians alike at the College to write about a plethora of content related to both current events and long-standing issues.Withnosetstyleguidelines,individualscanexplore new writing styles and publish their work anonymously for others to enjoy. Ultimately, The Botetourt Squat allows both its members and readers to share a laugh over inside jokes about the quirks of the College.