Lavender Graduation

The Nanook Diversity and Action Center will be hosting University of Alaska Fairbanks' Fifth Lavender Graduation to honor our students on Saturday, April 8 in the Wood Center Ballroom from noon to 2 p.m. The ceremony will be held both in-person and online to ensure as many students as possible are able to participate.

Lavender Graduation is an annual ceremony conducted on numerous campuses to honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally students and to acknowledge their achievements and contributions to the University. The Lavender Graduation Ceremony was created by Ronni Sanlo, a Jewish lesbian, who was denied the opportunity to attend the graduation of her biological children because of her sexual orientation. It was through this experience that she came to understand the pain felt by her students.

If you are an LGBTQIA2+ graduating student and wish to be recognized, please RSVP to the ceremony by April 1. Students will be honored and given a rainbow honor cord and a pride pin that they may wear during their commencement ceremony on May 6.

Faculty, staff, student allies, and members of the Fairbanks community are invited to celebrate with UAF's LGBTQIA2+ graduates by tuning into the ceremony. You can submit words of support by emailing uaf-ndac@alaska.edu.

If you are a student graduating this spring, identify as a member of the LGBTQIA2+ community, but don't want to be publicly recognized, please email uaf-ndac@alaska.edu and we will work to accommodate you.

Follow the Nanook Diversity and Action Center on Facebook and Instagram for details on this and other events.