Lavender and Women and Gender Studies graduation ceremony celebrates LGBTQ+ community

Colleen Rich — Tue, 09 May 2023 14:43:10 +0000

Lavender and Women and Gender Studies graduation ceremony celebrates LGBTQ+ community Colleen Rich Tue, 05/09/2023 - 10:43

On April 26, 25 ��AV graduates were celebrated for their accomplishments and contributions to the university community at the 2023 Lavender and Women and Gender Studies Graduation, held in the Johnson Center Bistro.

Mason’s Vice President for University Life Rose Pascarell delivers opening remarks at Mason’s 2023 Lavender and Women and Gender Studies Graduation. Photo by Sarah Holland/Strategic Communications

Each year, the Women and Gender Studies (WGST) Program and the LGBTQ+ Resources Center collaborate on this event to celebrate the lives and accomplishments of Mason’s LGBTQ+ students, their allies, and WGST grads. “This year’s event was a joyful and uplifting celebration of our diversity,” said Anu Aneja, WGST director. “This was my second Lav Grad event since I joined Mason, and I loved being a part of the vibrant purple, lavender, and rainbow spectrum that reflects the plural identities of our students, staff, and faculty.”

Aneja added that she was delighted by the support of many of Mason’s senior leadership in attendance. Vice President of University Life Rose Pascarell gave opening remarks, and College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Ann Ardis gave concluding remarks.

Lavender graduation ceremonies originated at the University of Michigan in 1995 and are now held by more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide. Mason’s first Lavender graduation ceremony was celebrated by the LGBTQ+ Resources Center in 2009 and it has welcomed the collaboration with WGST since 2015.

Integrative studies major Reagan Emmerling was awarded the Feminist Leadership Award. Photo by Sarah Holland/Strategic Communications

Josh Kinchen, director of the LGBTQ+ Resources Center, said the Lavender and WGST Graduation is always a highlight of the year. “We are so excited about our partnership with Women and Gender Studies to celebrate our best and brightest queer student graduates!” he said. “Onward to another year of student and colleagues' excellence at Mason!"

Holly Mason Badra, MFA '17, associate director of Women and Gender Studies, said the ceremony was a meaningful event full of joy and celebration. “It is an emotional event for many—students, faculty, staff, family, and friends—as many of us find ourselves feeling moved by the sense of belonging and support,” Badra said. “I am grateful that spaces and events like this exist to validate LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff existence as well as our contributions to the Mason community.”

Congratulations to all the students, faculty, and staff who were recognized with awards, including:

Reagan Emmerling, BA in Integrative Studies concentrating in Women and Gender Studies with minors in Criminology and Anthropology, was awarded the Feminist Leadership Award, given to a graduating senior who demonstrates scholarly excellence and activist leadership in the WGST program.
Sarah Holland received the Rose Pascarell and Ric Chollar Professional Service Award, which honors staff and administrative faculty who work to advance the well-being of Mason’s LGBTQ+ community. Holland is a communications officer in the Office of University Branding and also completed a graduate certificate in Folklore Studies at Mason.
Ricardo F. Vivancos-Pérez, associate professor in Modern and Classical Languages and Spanish Program coordinator, received the Dr. David Powers Corwin Scholarship and Teaching Award, which recognizes an instructional faculty member whose teaching and/or scholarship centers the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and communities, with a focus on gender and sexuality, and a grounding in queerness, justice, and liberation.

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Staff member Holly Mason Badra receives professional service award for LGBTQ+ work

Colleen Rich — Wed, 25 May 2022 12:12:40 +0000

Staff member Holly Mason Badra receives professional service award for LGBTQ+ work Colleen Rich Wed, 05/25/2022 - 08:12

Mason alum and staff member Holly Mason Badra (center in blue) received the Rose Pascarell and Ric Chollar Professional Service Award for exemplifying collaboration in her work to advance LGBTQIA+ visibility and efforts on campus. Photo provided

��AV staff member Holly Mason Badra received the Rose Pascarell and Ric Chollar Professional Service Award for exemplifying collaboration in her work to advance LGBTQIA+ visibility and efforts on campus. She received the award in April at the Lavender & Women and Gender Studies Graduation.

Mason Badra is the graduate admissions coordinator and fiscal manager for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ English Department. She is also the secretary for the LGBTQ+ Faculty/Staff Alliance, which provides opportunities within the queer community at Mason for advocacy and social activities.

“Receiving this award, getting that level of affirmation that what I do is important, is huge. It feels incredible,” said Mason Badra. “It feels like a million hugs and pats on the back.”

Christopher Carr, associate dean for diversity, outreach and inclusive learning in the College of Engineering and Computing, and David Powers Corwin, associate director of the Women and Gender Studies Program and instructional faculty in the School of Integrative Studies, and Sarah Holland, marketing specialist for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, nominated Mason Badra for the award.

Mason Badra “is the epitome of someone who tends and waters the gardens of so many others while never asking anyone to help sow her seeds,” Holland wrote.

“Her careful listening to multiple perspectives and sincere passion for change make her stand out in the work,” said Corwin. “She does all of this without any desire for recognition, which makes her being the recipient of this award so important.”

Josh Kinchen, director of the LGBTQ+ Resources Center, agreed. “Everyone I know sings Holly’s praises. A constant refrain is ‘She is the kindest person I know.’”

The award, created in 2019, is administered as a collaboration between the LGBTQ+ Resources Center and the Women and Gender Studies Center.

Mason Badra grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she fell in love with literature and poetry. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Mason in 2017. Mason Badra returned to Mason in 2019 to her current position because, she said, she missed the creative atmosphere

When Mason Badra was in graduate school at Mason, she came out to her parents. She found support at Mason during that time and hopes to serve as a queer advocate in the community.

“When I came into my job, I very quickly noticed that there were areas in which we are not as welcoming as we could be to the LGBTQIA community,” said Mason Badra. “I felt like it was my job to help us become more gender and queer inclusive. I feel like it’s my duty to speak up.”

Mason Badra said that being highly visible as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community is important to her as a way to connect with students, staff, and faculty.

“I went from struggling to navigate homophobia to now being able to support the LGBTQIA community so receiving this award is so empowering,” Mason Badra said.

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