UK’s Transgender Week of Awareness concluded on Friday, Nov. 17 with a campus-wide SafeZone event.
The event was held in the Gatton Student Center’s Martin Luther King Center.
According to a post made on UK’s LGBTQ* Resource Center’s social media, a series of events were held to celebrate Transgender Week of Awareness from Monday, Nov 13 to Friday, Nov. 17.
The workshop was held to teach UK staff about LGBTQ+ identities and strategies for supporting student experiences, according to the UK Calendar.
“SafeZone Workshops are 90-minute workshops to equip individuals to be more aware and active allies,” the website said.
The training is held as a part of the national Safe Zone Project.
Co-created by Meg Bolger and Sam Killermann, the national Safe Zone Project is meant to provide universities with resources to educate staff.
“The Safe Zone Project (SZP) is a free online resource providing curricula, activities, and other resources for educators facilitating Safe Zone trainings,” the Safe Zone Project website said.
The LGBTQ* Resource Center hosts two SafeZones a month but has faced a recent hiatus, according to graduate student and presentation presenter Lauren Zahrn.
Some UK staff said they felt the training equipped them to better understand and help students.
“I feel like the more you understand various identities the more you understand people better which is really valuable to me. The more I know, the better I can help,” said Martina Vasil, director of graduate studies for the School of Music.
The event also brought in staff from different programs at UK.
Tee Acree, the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) coordinator at UK’s Markey Cancer Center, said that the training helped her to become more knowledgeable in areas of DEI.
“There’s always a part of diversity where I can sharpen my skills, and I think that this training gave me those skills,” Acree said.
Both Vasil and Acree said that this kind of training is important and can go on to help future students and staff.
“Especially since I’m in education, with preparing future teachers they need to be ready to teach any kids no matter what state laws are, and to me this isn’t politics, this is people,” Vasil said.
Zahrn said she became involved with the workshop through an assistantship with the LGBTQ* Resource Center.
“Knowing and seeing how many people on UK’s campus are willing to be allies, and wanting and seeking that training has been really encouraging,” Zahrn said.
Information on future SafeZone training and other events can be found on the UK LGBTQ* Resource Center BBNvolved page.
