Emc易倍体育 Pride (LUP) brings students together
Finding a community
Even though Jadey Holcomb ’26 grew up in Salem, Oregon, and Wren Donoho ’26 came to Emc易倍体育 from Windsor, California, their first year experience at Emc易倍体育 was quite similar. The pair both felt full of uncertainties, worrying about finding friends and fitting in at college. The two quickly found connection to other students through Emc易倍体育 Pride (LUP). The club focuses on bringing together members and supporters of the queer community for activities and events. Now, as juniors, Jadey and Wren serve as the club’s coordinators.
“I had just come out towards the end of my senior year of high school. When I left for college, I thought ‘I need to make gay friends. I need to be with gay people,’” Jadey said. “I started attending LUP meetings when I heard about the club. Since attending, I’ve made a lot of friends who are really cool.”
LUP has taken on many different forms throughout its time at Emc易倍体育. Originally, it was known as Students Advocating for Gender Equity (SAGE). In 2021, the name Emc易倍体育 United in Pride was established, and in 2024, it became known as Emc易倍体育 Pride. With a new name, the hope is that all people are welcome to the club, whether they identify as part of the queer community or not. Currently, the club has about 25 active participants but sees nearly 50-60 students attending their events.
“You can feel so alienated in a classroom where everybody around you is cis and straight, and it doesn't feel like you belong. It's really nice that every week, you have somewhere where you fit in. These are your people,” Wren said. “They're checking in on you. They want you to succeed. They want you to do well. I think that helped me a lot my freshman year when I probably would have dropped out if it weren't for LUP.”
Hosting events
LUP’s main goal is to connect students with each other. With weekly meetings, students check in with their peers while doing fun activities like painting or crafting.
“We always do our ‘rosebud, thorn, blossom,’ which is our weekly check-in. We say our name and pronouns, and we go around the room and everybody talks about their week,” Jadey said. “Then we do a lot of crafting because we love to craft.”
LUP also collaborates with other clubs to co-host events. During LUP’s joint activity with the Creative Writing Club, they participated in a coloring activity and created a group short story. With the Environmental Science Club, both clubs went for a nature walk together at Miller Woods.
While the club is active throughout the year, on March 31, the club and the world recognize Transgender Day of Visibility. Created in 2010, Transgender Day of Visibility focuses on the contributions trans individuals have made to the world and addresses the issues the community faces.
“We didn’t organize anything; we let our friends and allies help with that,” Wren said. “The psychology department partnered with the DEI office for a coffee and tea hour.”
Celebrating Pride
Following March 31, for LUP and Emc易倍体育, the month of April marks Pride Month — a time to celebrate the queer community. During this month, LUP holds special events for the Emc易倍体育 campus. This year includes a Pride Month kickoff, drag queen bingo with Poison Waters and Emc易倍体育’s PRIDE prom.
“I’m excited for bingo and prom,” Jadey said. “Poison Waters is the founder of a troupe in Portland and has won a bunch of cool awards. They’re pretty well known.”
Poison Waters performed at the 2023 Portland Drag-A-Thon, which set a Guinness World Record for the longest drag show at 48 hours, 11 minutes and 30 seconds. Both events bring lots of people in support of LUP and Pride Month.
“We have a lot of fun, and we are a tight-knit group, but we're looking to expand,” Jadey said.
“We want people to succeed. We want queer people to succeed,” Wren added. “We want to be able to tell queer success stories and show queer success and brilliance on campus.”