During the 2022–2023 academic year, UT’s Pride Center increased its reach with record numbers of students supported and impacted by Pride Center programs.
“Our numbers speak for themselves: our students are passionate about engaging with diverse identities, intentional community-building, and inclusive leadership development now more than ever,” says Bonnie Johnson, director of the Pride Center.
In addition to partnering with more than 20 units on and off campus to provide more inclusive and culturally responsive support programming, the center also supported 33 total Safe Zone at UT sessions, an educational workshop that focuses on terminology, awareness, and understanding of the issues related to the LGBTQ+ community on campus.
14,950 total visitors to the Pride Center in 2022–2023, a 58% increase from the prior year.
Safe Zone at UT sessions are facilitated by faculty, staff, or graduate students, and this year’s sessions were led by 15 different facilitators, an all-time high for any single academic year.
Pride Center staff also conducted a focus group with graduate students to identify the specific needs of this student population, including programming, fiscal support, and more. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the center added a staff coordinator position.
The student mentoring program saw the largest cohorts of mentors and mentees yet, with 43 total participants. And finally, the Pride Center community space in the Student Union had record space utilization with 14,950 total visitors in 2022–2023 compared to 9,474 total visitors in 2021–2022.
“As an alumna of UT and the Pride Center myself, it thrills me that our center’s capacity is expanding to meet the growing needs of the Volunteer community from faculty to staff to students of all degree levels,” adds Johnson. “We are excited about supporting more students as they explore themselves and their futures here on Rocky Top, and we look forward to even more utilization of our services, affinity space, and programming.”