A Rainbow of Support
UC Davis is lighting up the Mondavi Center’s south wall, facing Interstate 80, in the colors of the rainbow flag — reinforcing the campus’s earlier message of sorrow over the tragedy in Orlando and shining a vibrant message of support for the LGBTQIA community everywhere. The lights went on for the first time June 21 and will stay on until 2 a.m. nightly for a week. The rainbow flag itself is flying at the front of the Student Community Center.
Six centers on the Davis campus are hosting Community Healing Spaces in the wake of the tragedy in Orlando.
The healing spaces are being held from noon to 1:30 p.m., once a week, starting Monday (June 20). Each week has a different host: Cross Cultural Center, LGBTQIA Resource Center, AB540 and Undocumented Student Center, Women’s Resources and Research Center, Student Recruitment and Retention Center, and Center for Student Involvement.
“Together, we will provide spaces for all of our communities to grieve, make sense of the tragedy and support each other,” Bruce Smail, director of the Cross Cultural Center, said in an email announcement. “In addition to having staff, we will also have a counselor available if anyone needs additional support.”
The Community Healing Spaces are open to students, faculty and staff. “We encourage you to join us,” Smail said.
“With 49 dead and 53 injured, the impact was felt amongst so many communities,” Smail said. “Our hearts, prayers, thoughts and spirit of solidarity go out to the many lives lost, injure, and impacted by this tragedy. The fear, pain, hurt and insecurities that reverberate throughout LGBTQIA Communities of Color are great.
“The victims were largely young Black/Latinx LGBTQIA patrons of Pulse nightclub. This hits home for the Cross Cultural Center. We reject and address all forms of homophobia, transphobia, racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia that are present every day and particularly surrounding this tragedy.”
The Cross Cultural Center has set up a memorial for the 49 lives lost in Orlando, as well as other queer and trans folks of color. The memorial, with pictures of the fallen, is in the CCC office on the first floor of the Student Community Center. “We welcome the community to leave their own pictures, message, and other honorings if you so choose,” Smail said.
Here is the complete schedule of Community Healing Spaces, each to be held from noon to 1:30 p.m.:
Each Community Healing Space will be from noon to 1:30 p.m.:
- Monday, June 20 — Cross Cultural Center, Student Community Center (first floor)
- Monday, June 27 — LGBTQIA Resource Center, Student Community Center (first floor)
- Tuesday, July 5 — AB540 and Undocumented Student Center, Student Community Center (first floor)
- Monday, July 11 — Women’s Resources and Research Center, North Hall
- Monday, July 18 — Student Recruitment and Retention Center, Student Community Center (first floor)
- Monday, July 25 — Center for Student Involvement, 442 Memorial Union
Media Resources
Dateline Staff, 530-752-6556, dateline@ucdavis.edu