Ithaca College will recognize National Coming Out Day on Wednesday, Oct. 5, with a talk on “Intersectional Student Organizing” by Cedrick-Michael Simmons. The 7 p.m. presentation in Klingenstein Lounge, Egbert Hall, is free and open to the public.
A 2014 sociology graduate of Ithaca College, Simmons will discuss race and LGBTQ themes as they relate to student organizing. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Boston College, where his research focuses on how college administrators respond to anti-racist protests, and how those responses are shaped by colorblind racism in the academy. He is an organizer of the student group “Eradicate Boston College Racism.”
While at IC, Simmons was a member of the Martin Luther King Scholar Program and served as president of the Student Government Association and Created Equal. His activism has focused on educating administrators about the experiences of marginalized students on campus, and helping students present policy demands to create a more inclusive college.
National Coming Out Day is sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and is intended to advance open and respectful dialogue about the lives of LGBTQ Americans and their family and friends. The Ithaca College Center for LGBT Education, Outreach, and Services each year hosts a speaker with ties to the campus or local community in commemoration of the day.
For more information, visit www.ithaca.edu/lgbt.