Gay Straight Alliance: AUR’s new Club

29 February 2008: AUR has a new club. It is called Gay-Straight Alliance and was founded on the initiative of AUR sophomore Jessicah Filipas (pictured) with the objective of providing a support system for AUR students, but also to educate the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues.

“I started this club because I think there is a demand and a need for it not only on this campus but in this city. This is an open, safe, and comfortable place for anyone to come and discuss issues that are on their mind” she said.
The creation of the club was what Jessicah calls a “spur of the moment thing”. She first mentioned it to Professor Valentina Dorato (“Valentina has been my biggest supporter and has helped me the most,” Jessicah said) who encouraged her to speak with AUR’s Provost Dr. Richard Resch, about it. With his support the AUR-GSA club was formed in February.

The club meetings, which are open to anyone, are essentially forums where students can discuss anything they want. The GSA's first meeting, held on February 16th, was a round table discussion on acceptance, coming out, and gender roles. The club also began making plans for the future and hopes to host different events throughout the semester in order to spread awareness about the club and its purpose. “We have a lot of support, a large following, and important goals. I'm really excited about it,” Jessicah said.

The club's first event will be held on Tuesday February 26th at club st'A, where all profits for the evening will go to the AUR-GSA. The club hopes to hold more events like this one, including some on campus fundraisers and even a collaboration with the AUR Reach Out Club to raise money for the official GSA Network, a non-profit organization.

For more information or to join the club, contact Jessicah Filipas at jessicahfilipas@mac.com