UND to host conference on LGBTQ+ issues in higher education

‘Queer Resilience: Breaking Boundaries’ will be hosted at Memorial Union on Oct. 10

As a part of UND’s celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month, the UND Pride Center will be hosting a day-long conference on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at the Memorial Union from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which will cover higher education inclusivity efforts for the LGBTQ+ community.

Titled “Queer Resilience: Breaking Boundaries,” the event is an interdisciplinary, multi-state, LGBTQ+-focused conference which will focus on trends and topics related to LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff in higher education.

The event, billed as a “LGBTQ+ higher education day-long institute,” will join colleges from the North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota tri-state area and seeks to foster discussion on the integration of LGBTQ+ support systems and curriculum within higher education institutions.

UND is home to one of few fully staffed programs in the region that is dedicated to offering resources to LGBTQ+ students and allies. The Pride Center’s director, Jeff Maliskey, hopes that this conference will provide valuable insights to other institutions in the region looking to support their LGBTQ+ students.

“We’re hoping to see people in rural institutions or locations nearby, take the information and the knowledge and the skills that they learn into, and bring it back to their institution,” said Maliskey. “We hope that schools that don’t have an LGBTQ+ resource centers or designated support for LGBTQ+ students, will be able to take the skills and knowledge presented at the conference and apply them on their campuses in ways that support and show commitment to those students.”

The institute is the result of collaboration between Maliskey and North Dakota State University faculty members Jamee Larson and Christopher Whitsel. It will feature 18 speakers and panelists from schools including UND, North Dakota State University and Valley City State University, among others.

Topics covered at the conference will include LGBTQ+ student academic performance and mental health, curriculum-based initiatives and campus allyship.

Maliskey will present an LGBTQ+ state of affairs in higher education, sharing insights on trends and practices related to LGBTQ+ populations in colleges and universities. The event will also host presentations and panels from UND School of Law faculty and staff, suicide prevention advocate Faye Seidler and Angie Freeman, program manager for the University of Michigan Spectrum Center.

For a full schedule, list of presenters and registration details, attendees are invited to visit the event’s website.

More information on UND Pride Center’s LGBTQ+ History Month programming can be found on the Pride Center website.