JULIA SANDOVAL Contributing Writer
Coming to college can be a stressful time as students worry about finding their place amongst so many new people. An event that can be helpful to students trying to find their place on campus is the club fair. This gives students the opportunity to find groups of people that have the same interests or passions as them.
At the club fair that was held Wednesday, August 10 in the student commons, there were science and math clubs for students who had a passion for those subjects, the student government for those who wanted to help foster change on campus, the anime club for those who wanted a group to get together with and just have fun and watch anime, and so many more. All of these clubs help provide students with opportunities to connect with people who share their common interests, people with whom they can become friends with. One club that was featured at this year’s club fair for the first time in Piedmont history was the GSA or Gay Straight Alliance.
The GSA is a group whose goal is to help make Piedmont a more inclusive place. Vice Principal of the GSA Joanna Hansen said, “I think our goal is mainly to unite the LGBTQA+ and ally communities to provide a safe place at Piedmont.”
According to the President of GSA Tatiana Burkett, they hope to raise awareness for the cause around campus due to many students not knowing of their existence. “We want to make people aware that we are here and that we are valid,” she said.
According to leaders of the club, the group plans to bring up issues while being open to both people within our community and outside of it. They want to help people become aware that the LGBTQA+ community is huge and much more extensive than just the most widely known sexualities in order to expand the horizons of the community and make people aware of the different sexualities and genders.
Other goals that they’ve set include helping people understand that sexuality and gender are part of who a person is as well as help people feel less inhibited by the restrictions caused by the gender binary and the expectations brought by it.
The GSA will host weekly meetings, though the location of the meetings is yet to be decided. In these meetings, they will get together and have fun by connecting with others. During meetings they will plan events for members to participate in, such as attending a Pride event at some point, but it has yet to be decided when. They will also plan events that they will host. They currently have interest in doing an event on National Coming Out Day which is October 11, but are still working on plans for that.
The GSA motto states, “Love Has No Labels. “ The president and vice president of the club want students to know that the GSA will always accept students and are here to help, educate and be a friend.