LGBTQ+

George Mason’s summer forensics camp created a pathway for this rising sophomore

Shayla Brown — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 18:54:29 +0000

George Mason’s summer forensics camp created a pathway for this rising sophomore Shayla Brown Wed, 07/31/2024 - 14:54

Samuel Dalachinsky could have attended college tuition-free in Florida. But his experience at the George Mason Institute of Forensics in the summer of 2022, before his senior year of high school, convinced him to look at ��AV.

Samuel Dalachinsky. Photo provided.

“[The summer institute] definitely helped build a bridge to transition from high school into college for me, so I had a lot of hope in the university,” he said.

For 20 years, the Institute of Forensics has been helping high school students from around the United States practice and improve their speech and presentation skills to become tournament ready. George Mason has one of the top forensics teams in the country and regularly lands in the top five nationally. This is year they placed second out of almost 60 schools at the American Forensics Association Tournament.

The summer institute also brings awareness about the university’s forensics program to potential future students as about 20% of high school students who attend this camp subsequently attend George Mason.

“The camp was such an important experience to me. It let me find this way to radically embrace my identity,” he said.

George Mason’s reputation for inclusiveness in the LGBTQ+ space was supported by Dalanchinsky’s experience at the summer institute.

“I came to camp with the intention of writing an angry piece about how I was feeling, and they showed me all of these beautiful poems written by trans people. It made me reevaluate the way I was thinking about things,” said Dalanchinsky, who is an Honors College student.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty members and forensic team coaches Dawn Lowry and Tyler Watkins, who is also a George Mason alum, mentored Dalanchinsky while he was at the camp.

“Dawn really uplifts me and gives me so much confidence,” said the psychology major. “She had known me for about a week and said that she already knew she wanted me on the [George Mason] team.”

Dalanchinsky’s family had invested in Florida’s Bright Future Scholars program, which would have guaranteed him free in-state tuition, he said. But the forensics team coaches helped him find scholarship opportunities that made it possible for him to attend George Mason, as well as offering him financial aid.

“The coaches definitely helped me out a lot with the scholarship application process,” said Dalanchinsky.

Dalanchinsky, who wants to combine his major in psychology with social justice topics, specifically LGBTQ+ rights, has found the routines and practices taught at the institute helpful in preparing speeches. Dalanchinsky uses research topics and information from his classes at George Mason to write his speeches, which allows him to practice the application of psychology to the LGBTQ+ community, which he hopes to one day do professionally, he said.

“George Mason is very open-minded when it comes to picking your own topics of research and speech,” said Dalanchinsky. “Speech has not only given me confidence with public speaking or communicating with others in general, but also a lot of research abilities, which I think is very important.”

Dalachinsky appreciates the coaching he’s received since joining the George Mason team. “The coaches are very quick to tell you if you come off as a little too quiet, and they get it out of us really quickly,” he said. “They’ve also helped me with networking, and I've gotten to meet some really interesting people throughout the speech circuit.”

Dalachinsky is considering graduate school at George Mason. “I’d love to do graduate assisting coaching for Dawn and Tyler. I think it would be great to continue my education here,” he said.

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Mason film student’s inclusive festival celebrates its second year

Shayla Brown — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 20:27:11 +0000

Mason film student’s inclusive festival celebrates its second year Shayla Brown Fri, 01/05/2024 - 15:27

As a film student at ��AV, Roberto Ferreira De Araujo wanted to celebrate diversity and highlight the full spectrum of experiences represented by the LGBTQ+ community.

During his first semester at Mason in fall 2022, Ferreira De Araujo and two of his classmates created the Here and Queer Film Festival as a final project for KJ Mohr’s FAVS 399 Curating and Programming course.

Roberto Ferreira de Araujo posing with the 'Here and Queer Festival' poster during on screening day. Photo provided.

“Growing up, I didn't see a lot of films with queer characters, and when I did, they always involved crimes, violence, and diseases,” said the film and video studies major. “I struggled to find a film that I really loved, so I attempted to find those films with this festival.”

“Roberto is building a safe and celebratory space for communities at Mason in particular. It comes at a crucial time with the majority of students being in their late teens and early twenties,” said Mohr, who is the director of the Maryland Film Festival and the director of programming for the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Florida. 

“It's such a crucial moment in one's life to be grappling with these issues and to feel that net of support can be, frankly, a matter of life and death,” she said.

Ferreira De Araujo found inspiration to create the festival after completing an internship with the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in the summer of 2022, where he was involved in programming films, he said.

“I knew that I wanted to make something around films and showcasing films,” said Ferreira De Araujo, who transferred to Mason from Northern Virginia Community College and is graduating this spring. “I would spend 40 hours a week just watching films and writing notes about it, creating lists of the themes and how would that be presented.”

The first festival was such a success that Ferreira De Araujo decided to hold a second iteration this November in the Johnson Center. “I received such positive feedback [last year] and noticed a strong interest in a second edition. It motivated me to start working on this year's programming,” he said.

The 2023 festival featured short films from all over the world including work from Mason students and faculty, including Djola Branner, director of Mason’s School of Theater, whose film, Mighty Real, was shown at the festival.

“It’s important to me to show more queer films and have more representation. I'm trying to put content out there that I wish I had when I was [younger],” said De Araujo. “These films not only provide entertainment but also contribute to meaningful conversations surrounding queer experiences.”

“I wanted people to [leave the festival] with the assurance that no matter what, they would always have a community out there that celebrates and supports them,” he said.

Additional reporting by Katarina Benson.

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KJ Mohr

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Josh Kinchen

Jeannine Harvey — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 17:34:05 +0000

Josh Kinchen Jeannine Harvey Wed, 08/30/2023 - 13:34

Director of the LGBTQ+ Resources Center

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jkinchen@gmu.edu

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LGBTQ+ Resources Center

Biography

Josh is the Director of the LGBTQ+ Resources Center. Josh’s portfolio includes overall management and strategic direction of the Center, advising the Queer Student Leadership Council, co-chairing the Chosen Name & Pronouns Policy steering committee, liaisoning with the LGBTQ+ Faculty/Staff Alliance, serving as the external contact with other LGBTQ+ Resource Centers across the country, leading assessment and benchmarking for LGBTQ+ institutional support, convening the LGBTQ+ departmental liaison group, and consulting with university entities around LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Josh previously worked at Florida State University as a Program Coordinator in the Student Governance & Advocacy department, working directly with the Allies & Safe Zones program and the Pride Student Union (a student-fee-funded, student-directed, staff-advised LGBTQ+ cultural center). While there, he also served as the Staff Co-Chair of the LGBTQ+ Faculty/Staff Network. He graduated twice from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with an M.Ed. in Higher Education and a B.A. in Communication Studies. A proud first-generation college graduate, he holds an Associate’s degree from Cape Fear Community College. While a UNCW Seahawk, he worked in the LGBTQIA Resource Office, serving in multiple roles from undergraduate intern to Graduate Assistant.

Before his career in higher education, Josh served in the United States Marine Corps as an Intelligence Specialist. Informed by this experience, his Master’s thesis was focused on the experiences of LGB military veterans in their undergraduate college experience. This research was published in the Journal of Veterans Studies, to help inform the intersections of support for LGBTQ students, military veterans, and LGBTQ military veterans on college campuses.

Josh originally hails from Slidell, LA, in the greater New Orleans area but also considers the Port City of Wilmington, NC, a second hometown. Josh is an avid comic collector of nearly 30 years! He enjoys spending time with his partner Denise and their two cats Dingy and Monkey!

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George Mason’s summer forensics camp created a pathway for this rising sophomore

Start your journey at George Mason

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Mason film student’s inclusive festival celebrates its second year

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