2015 Out In Front Lgbtqia+ & Ally College Conference

Join us on Saturday February 21st, 2015 at Vanderbilt University for OUT in Front, the sixth annual LGBTQIA+ & Ally College Conference. Meet peers from across the state to share resources, develop leadership skills, and foster a strong community of LGBTQIA+ and allied student leaders. OUT in Front is open to any currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students at a two- or four- year institution. The conference is free to attend. For more information and to register for the conference visit: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/programs/out-in-front ------------- The theme of the 2015 OUT in Front LGBTQQIA+ and Ally College Conference is Branching OUT. With this theme, we are striving to explore all aspects of identity–from the history and awareness of identity to the current tools college leaders can use to affect change on campus and the community. We want all conference attendees to branch out of their comfort zone and into the communities present at OUT in Front. The three main tenets of the Branching OUT theme include Roots, Trunks, and Branches. Roots: are what ground you and draw in resources. In relation to LGBTQQIA+ and Ally identities, the roots signify history, awareness, education, common language, and identity. Trunks: are strong and provide you with room and spaces in which to grow. We see the trunk as a place to educate others, educate oneself, and talk about identity/self development, intersectionality and the tools needed for social justice and ally ship. Branches: reach out into the surrounding area and are not afraid to grow into the community around it. For the LGBTQQIA+ and Ally conference attendees, branches are the place to discuss impact, action plans, activism, change, policy work, and politics. --------------- We are asking the OUT in Front Community to share your voice through digital media & blogging! You can do so by submitting a blog post to the OUT in Front Tumblr (http://outinfrontvu.tumblr.com/). What we’re aiming to do in this space is to bring together the stories of different members of our OIF community as a sort of bonding experience/living scrapbook for attendees both new and old. Consider posting: If you’ve attended OIF in the past, share your story! Type it up, use your unique voice and submit it for publication on the blog. We’d love to hear what you loved. If this will be your first conference, tell us what you’re excited about! Tell us about you! Where are you coming from, and what are you most looking forward to? If you’ve been approved to present a workshop at the conference (and we hope you ALL will submit your workshop proposals for consideration) then we would love a brief post with an overview of what your workshop entails. ALSO! ALSO! ALSO! Document your time at the conference as well as your impressions afterward, and we’ll put them up here as well! We want the whole story.