What We Do | Adele H. Stamp Student Union

Mission Statement

LGBTQ+ Student Involvement and Advocacy promotes student development and campus participation for students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and diverse sexual/gender minorities. We are committed to the creation and maintenance of a campus environment where LGBTQ+ identity and issues are affirmed and supported through programming, student mentorship, scholarship fund development, and other initiatives.

You may also be interested in the vision, mission, and values of the UMD LGBT Equity Center. The LGBTQ+ Equity Center and MICA are the two primary offices that support LGBTQ+ students on campus.

UMD is proud to affirm LGBTQ+ members of our community in their identities. The Health Center offers health and wellness services to LGBTQ+ students. Students may take courses in LGBTQ Studies through the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, some of which can count towards CORE requirements. If LGBTQ+ students are concerned that they might not be welcome in a particular office or program at our university, please contact us and we will be happy to help.

Spring 2024 Programs and Events

Queer Book Club 2/15/24

Queer Book Club kicks off for the first time on Thursday, 2/15! Great opportunity for those who are interested in reading about queer characters by queer authors!

Fall 2023 Programs and Events

LGBTQ+ Equity Center Queer Winter Celebration 12/4/23

A laid-back winter ball presented by and for queer students! Done in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ Equity Center

Advertisement for Queer Winter Celebration

Spook N Slay 10/27/23

Pride Alliance's costume contest, complete with prizes, food, fun, and more!

Spook N Slay advertisement, pumpkin pictured on the left overlaid with "Spook N Slay"

Quelcome 10/3/23

UMD's annual resource fair and celebration for queer students and allies.

Spring 2023 Programs and Events

SEE's Annual Spring Drag Show 4/14/23

SEE hosted its annual Spring Drag Show, featuring four drag queens: emcee and UMD alumni Miss Toto, Sirene Noir Sidora Jackson, Angelle Zhané, and Kornbread Jeté, former competitor in season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Kornbread Jeté performs at SEE's annual spring drag show (Jess Daninhirsch/The Diamondback)

Real Talk: Being Queer & Your Career 4/13/23

In partnership with the University Career Center, MICA hosted a career panel in which five LGBTQ+ professionals, Italy Balely, Alexander Williams, Michelle Dang, Resa Lovelace, and Veena Aruldhas, were invited to converse with two student facilitators, Karenna Aparece and Cole Harding, on queer experiences in the workplace.

Pictured from left to right: Michelle Dang, Alexander Williams, Karenna Aparece, Rebecca Ryan, Cole Harding, Resa Lovelace, Veena Aruldhas, and Itay Balely

Being Queen is My Resistance: Lessons in Drag Mythology & Migration 3/23/23

Local drag artist KaMani Sutra graced a UMD audience with their "cabaret-style, one-person show that blends storytelling, drag performance, dance, and video to weave together milestones in KaMani Sutra’s story of discovering their femininity while being an adult immigrant to the United States." The event was co-sponsored by the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; the Asian American Studies program; the Queer Leadership Accelerators student club at the Robert H. Smith School of Business; and the Asian American Student Union.

three figures wearing flowy garments draped around themselves are holding hands and posing in front of a projector screen and red curtains — KaMani Sutra and two audience members pose in three different styles of draping a saree

A figure in drag makeup, adorned in gold jewellery, and wearing a pink and green garment is holding up their hands while the faces and heads of people around are turned to look at them — KaMani Sutra's high energy dance number has audience members captivated

Four figures are standing next to each other and smiling: a person in a black lace-hemmed top with dark hair; a person wearing a chunky multicolored necklace over a black top with shoulder length hair; a person wearing a blue and red saree with gold and pearl jewellery and drag makeup; and a person with light hair wearing a yellow and blue saree. — (L to R): Amanda Vu, student in the Asian American Studies program; Dr. Sayan Bhattacharya, Assistant Professor at the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies; KaMani Sutra, the lecturer-artist; Shabab Ahmed Mirza, Graduate Coordinator at MICA

Creating Change 2/17/23-2/20/23

This year, UMD sent 12 students to San Francisco for the Creating Change conference, its largest ever contingent for a non-local host city. Students from six different schools and colleges attended the annual political, leadership, and skills-building conference for LGBTQ activists and student leaders from across the country.

A group of students is smiling at the camera — The 2023 UMD contingent at Creating Change

Fall 2022 Programs and Events

Pride in STEM Day 11/18/22

Pride in STEM Day celebrates the work and barriers of LGBTQIA+ people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). All schools and colleges at UMD with STEM programs participated in our campaign. The graphics can be seen on the MICA Instagram channel here.

Queer Open Mic 10/18/22

We honor National Coming Out Day with our open mic night in the longstanding queer tradition of reclaiming control over our own narratives, boldly speaking out against power, and using art as a vehicle for personal-political transformation.

Co-hosted with Jammin' at Maryland

A band is performing. All three members are holding guitars. The middle figure is holding a microphone on a stand and singing into it. — Sunset Avenue

Tight framed photo of a figure smiling while singing into a microphone — Raymart Tuazon

A figure is standing on a stage speaking into a microphone. Their face is obscured by their curly hair a black face mask. Two Pride Progress flags hang on the wall behind them. — Jack Hicks

Linking Communities Calendar

LGBTQ+ involvement is just one of the areas of advocacy within the Office of Multicultural Involvement & Community Advocacy. The Linking Communities Calendar below shows programs and events across all of MICA.