As the fall semester kicks into gear, VTSU Johnson’s Unity association has introduced new leadership. Unity is a safe group for LGBTQIA+ students to connect on the VTSU Johnson campus. The Unity room is located in Dewey Hall, next to the Badger Boutique.
Unity President Bekkah Lambert is a fifth-year student, majoring in Secondary Education with a focus in English. According to Lambert, they have been “out” for quite a while, though it took time for them to become truly comfortable. Lambert was initially drawn to Unity because of the fun and inclusive events that were being planned for students to attend. With so many ideas of their own, Lambert wanted to get more involved.
But they aren’t doing it on their own. With them, is Zander Herrick as vice president, Pratit “P” Nath as media representative, and Billy Millier as treasurer. The group is committed to hosting entertaining events while facilitating a safe space for LGBTQ students on the campus.
As an organization, one of their goals for this semester is to get students to show up to events.
According to Lambert, they know a large population of the student body identifies as LGBTQ, but having that identity can feel isolating at such a small campus. They hope to create a space that makes students feel comfortable attending club meetings and events, and overall getting involved.
One of the strategies they are using to get connected to students is holding weekly meetings in the Unity space. In previous years, there hadn’t been a set day and time for the club and its members to hang out and chill. Lambert says they’ve been trying to do better about that.
“Part of college is meeting new people, and it is a heck of a lot easier to meet new people when you have something in common — that one thing being queer!”
“I’d like to hit home to new students, please don’t be afraid to get involved!” Lambert continued. “If the events being hosted on campus don’t interest you, you have a voice! Let us know what you want to see, and we can make it happen.”
Unity meetings are open to the VTSU-J community and occur Wednesdays at 6:30. In addition to regular meetings, Lambert emphasized that the Unity association provides many additional services and resources for students on the Johnson campus.
“A lot of people see straight sex and they think that is the norm,” they said, so they want to make sure the community can learn about safety when it comes to queer relationships as well.
The Unity space houses supplies like condoms and dental damns, as well as makeup and chest tape for students to access. The VTSU Johnson community can access these materials and more at any time, completely free. “We know as college students that stuff like this can get really expensive really fast, so making sure that we can provide those resources is important.”
Said Lambert, the group wants to ensure that queer students have access to safe sex materials without shame or stigma.
“If you want anything you can ‘grab and go,’ which I think is really nice. There’s this stigma around buying condoms; it’s really weird that people have to be ashamed of it. They really don’t, so we just want to make sure that we kind of break down that stigma.”
In addition to those supplies, students can find things like oral self-tests for HIV, and overdose rescue kits in the space, also at no cost.
They also supply a range of informational handouts, brochures, and other educational resources covering a variety of issues, all of which can be found in the Unity room. Lambert highlights pamphlets informing about navigating relationships, and resources dealing with domestic violence and sexual assault assistance can also be obtained in the space.
Another resource found in the space is the “Queer Little Library,” a collection of stories either by queer authors, or about queer characters. The collection functions loosely like any other library, allowing students to “check them out” and return them later.
Students can stay up-to-date on Unity events and activities by following them on Instagram @vtsu_johnson_unity, attending weekly meetings, and reaching out to any of their officers.
