![President Todd Pfannestiel poses with Jeremy Thurston chairperson Board of Trustees [left] and former chairperson Robert Brvenik [right] after accepting the university's institutional charter.](https://uticatangerine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/unnamed.jpeg)
To honor the lives of transgender people lost in 2024, Utica University’s Gender Sexuality Alliance hosted a vigil on International Transgender Visibility Day.
GSA’s annual Transgender Remembrance Vigil, held on March 31 in the Library Concourse, recognized the 88 transgender Americans who were victims of transgender violence.
Joined by Provost Stephanie Nesbitt and others from the campus community, the event was about holding a minute of space and silence for those lost lives, said Kate Vaughn, the President of GSA.
“There is, in the world today, so much violence against the queer community, the LGBTQ+ community,” Vaughn said. “Because of this violence, so many lives are lost.”
The vigil not only called the names of transgender people who were victims of transphobia but also opened up the floor for attendees to share their thoughts about what the day meant to them.
For years in the United States, there has been a long history of violence against transgender people who question society’s gender conformities, Vaughn said.
As a student-led organization, GSA aims to educate people and answer questions about the queer community. On the Utica campus, there is always support to be found for GSA events, Vaughn said.
GSA welcomes everyone to join and encourages people to contact them with any ideas for upcoming events, whether through email, their Instagram page, or Piohub.
