Ohio State celebrates Pride with second annual brunch

The second annual Pride Brunch was held at The Ohio State University earlier this month. Guests came together to eat and celebrate the university’s LGBTQ community and its allies.

The event featured three speakers: Tina Pierce, chief of strategy and belonging for the alumni association; Danny Glassman, the Office of Student Life’s dean of students and associate vice president for student engagement and support; and Alina Taylor, assistant director of development at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

“Pride is defined as a feeling of honor or self-respect, a sense of personal worth and self-esteem,” Glassman said. “As we celebrate Pride as an LGBTQ community, we do so because we are honoring and uplifting our history, our struggles and our triumphs.”

Pierce said it is important to keep working toward a better future, one where everyone has the same opportunities.

“All of us want a chance to be who we are, to love who we love and to make a successful life for ourselves and for our families,” she said. “And we all deserve that.”

Ari Grubaugh, coordinator in the Center for Belonging and Social Change in the Office of Student Life, emceed the event. Taking the time to educate the assembled crowd on the history of Pride, Grubaugh also encouraged allies in the audience to support their friends, family members and co-workers.

There is real value to a university the size of Ohio State celebrating Pride, said Taylor.

“This is a well-known university, both in the nation and in Ohio,” Taylor said. “It is important to raise the voices of all who make Ohio State what it is: a wonderful university that serves its student population as well as Ohio. There are individuals doing great work here who are proud members of the LGBTQ community. We need to showcase that.”