The College of Arts and Humanities and the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies program on campus is hosting Lavender Graduation in the Russell Union Ballroom on May 9 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Lavender Graduation is a ceremony for graduating LGBTQ+ and ally students to be recognized for their accomplishments, Ashley Strickland, a member of the committee for Lavender Graduation said. The committee is made up of both faculty and students.

There will be speakers and a reception following the graduation ceremony, Strickland said.

The Lavender Graduation ceremony is an event that happens at numerous universities across the U.S., and the first one began at the University of Michigan in 1995, according to the Human Rights Campaign website.

Strickland said that last year marked the first-ever Lavender Graduation ceremony at Georgia Southern University.

“Last year’s inaugural Lavender Graduation ceremony meant so much to me as a member of the LGBTQ+ community,” Strickland said.”I love having an event to celebrate the graduates who identify as LGBTQ+ and recognize their accomplishments, and to send them into post-graduate life knowing that there is a community from Georgia Southern University that will always be there to support them.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign website, lavender is the color used to signify the event because of its historical significance within the LGBTQ+ community, as it is a combination of pink, a color gay men were forced to wear in concentration camps, and black, the color used to designate lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany.

Attendees can RSVP for Lavender Graduation at http://attend.com/GSLavGrad19.

Elizabeth Gross, The George-Anne News Reporter, ganewsed@georgiasouthern.edu