Donald Keough, Editor-in-Chief
Gathered in a room on Slayter’s fourth floor, students wrote thoughtfully as they put together goodie bags on Feb. 16. They had just completed a history of Black queer leaders themed Kahoot! which included a number of trivia questions.
Altogether, these students made 60 bags for Kaleidoscope Youth Center in Columbus.
The students here were attending as part of an event with Outlook, Denison’s LGBTQ+ student community, in collaboration with Denison’s Black Student Union (BSU).
“I think it was a great turnout,” Kaiden McCready ‘28 said. “This is the most people I’ve ever seen at an event…where there wasn’t food. I’m really happy about that.”
McCready, who is the treasurer of Outlook, said that this program has been in the works for many months. He also said he was glad to see a large number of students involved.
“I feel like we have a reputation of being a very small portion of queer people on campus,” McCready said. “A big emphasis that we’re trying to do this semester and in coming years is to expand and to make bigger events that more people feel welcome coming to, and that benefit more people.”
Those benefited include students and organizations they support. Kaleidoscope, the organization that will receive the goodie bags, aims to “create a safe, affirming space” while providing essential support services to empower LGBTQIA+ youth in Ohio, according to its website. These goodie bags, which included handwritten notes and snacks, were put together to help support Kaleidoscope’s mission, according to Emmanuel Rodriguez ‘27, the president of Outlook.
Rodriguez also played a major part in bringing both Outlook and BSU together for this collaboration. Rodriguez said that he has sought to improve Outlook’s relationship with other organizations, in addition to connecting the general student population with Outlook.
“What I preached since I became president was I wanted Outlook to be something beyond just what people expect to be queer,” Rodriguez said.
“It should include all of the sections of being queer and all the intersectionalities that come with it. I think artists like to isolate themselves, to build their own community, and I think building a bigger community, especially for LGBTQ+, means reaching out to different orgs. That’s why this semester I made most of our events collaborative, so that people can see that queer people are in every part of life.”
As Rodriguez focuses on increasing the range of influence of Outlook, he also has prioritized sexual health education. He said he hopes more events in the future can help with this goal.
“We’re doing sexual health education, not only for straight people, but for LGBTQ+ people as well,” Rodriguez said. “Educating allies on things like being pressured is good for everybody, and telling them why getting tested is important, is also one of our missions.”
BSU helped put on a number of events since the beginning of February for Black History Month. They decided to partner with Outlook for this event because, as Chanel Jordan ‘26 said, both organizations benefit their surrounding communities, and that these benefits can intersect between Blackness and queerness.
“We’re in a time where both Blackness and queerness are identities that aren’t properly being celebrated… having spaces like this where we can come together and learn about histories that Black people and queer people both have in common… is a really cool opportunity,” Jordan said.
This event also coincides with BSU’s goal of centering programs around the Black experience.
“We’ve been able to celebrate a lot of different identities,” Jordan said, in reference to this past month. “One thing I’m really proud of for BSU and for Outlook is our understanding that someone can be queer and also be Black. There are a lot of different identities, a lot of different interests, but there’s not one way to be queer, there’s not one way to be Black. In this month, both of those things have been celebrated and highlighted, and I’m super proud of the work we’ve been doing.”
Following this event, BSU now has their sights set on the Black Heritage Ball, one of their biggest events of the year. This event will be held at 7 p.m. on Feb. 28, and the theme this year will be the Harlem Renaissance. The ball will be held in Knobel Hall in the Burton D. Morgan Center.
“I’m looking forward to it this year,” Jordan said. “I think this year’s theme is pretty unique. It’s something we haven’t done before. People come out, dress up, and we give out awards to students on campus. It’s a celebration so that Black students can come out and honor everything they’ve done.”