Flashing lights and music will take over the Williams Center on Thursday when the Rainbow Rave brings Georgia Southern University students a night of fun and education.

The Rainbow Rave is hosted by the Multicultural Student Center and will take place from 8 p.m. to midnight in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room.

The event is an opportunity for students to dance the night away with friends and become informed about the LGBTQ community.

“The purpose of the rave is to provide a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for members of the LGTBQ community and its allies as well as other students” Doug Peters, graduate assistant and program director, said.

The rave will feature strobe lights, glow sticks, black lights, mock-tinis, free food and a DJ to keep students entertained.

It is open to all students and will educate them on the issues faced by the LGBTQ community as well as other social issues, Peters said.

The rave is sponsored by GSU Health Services, the Counseling Center and the GSU Gay-Straight Alliance.

“We want to educate students and provide them with the opportunity to work with different cultures in the same place,” Peters said.

The Rave will bring different types of students together and in a safe space where they can gain a better understanding of each other, Peters said.

“I think that things like this are good for the LGBTQ community because it’s good for us to know we are not alone and just have fun,” Harrison Hogan, sophomore chemistry and French major and LGBTQ community member, said.

Hogan said, “It provides us with an opportunity to meet others who share our same struggles. It’s also great that there are others out there who are supportive of us and our issues.”