Photo: Bonnie Johnson returns to UT as the Pride Center Coordinator. Emily Gowder / The Daily Beacon
Pride Center coordinator returns to Rocky Top Cat Trieu
Contributor Bonnie Johnson just couldn’t stay away from Rocky Top. UT welcomed back Johnson at the beginning of the fall semester. She now serves as the new coordinator of the Pride Center. “I’m really excited to be back,” Johnson said. “I think it’s an amazing opportunity to do my part, to be the change I really wanted to see in the South when I was growing up.” The Pride Center is a resource on campus that provides support and community space for UT’s LGBTQIA and ally students, faculty and staff, as well as for anyone who seeks to learn about topics related to sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or gender expression, according to the center’s website. The Pride Center helps sponsor programs and events that
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provide education on LGBTQIA issues and increase LGBTQIA visibility. As coordinator, Johnson describes the role as being the manager and “public face” of the Pride Center, working with the Pride Ambassadors and providing all students with the support and resources they need. Johnson now oversees the direction of the center and manages the various programs, services and initiatives that support the LGBTQIA community. “Basically, I lead the Pride Center and, by extension, the university’s effort to support our LGBTQ community and to educate the wider campus community on why the LGBTQ’s issues should matter to everybody,” Johnson said. Michael Lussier, sophomore in political science, works as a student assistant at the Pride Center and said Johnson is working to further integrate the Pride Center into the campus community rather than remaining an independent resource. “Bonnie has recently started helping the Pride
Center become accustomed to being an office of the university again instead of a standalone resource center on the campus,” Lussier said. Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology at UT. Last spring, after deciding to pursue studies in societal and cultural issues, she earned her master’s degree in social work with a concentration in community, organization and business innovation. “People think the issues are a part of the past, but they are still incredibly present, affecting people today,” Johnson said. “It’s how I got into social work.” Johnson described social work as more of “meeting people where they’re at on every level of society, not only in therapy, but also in changing the wider aspects of society.” During her time as a student, Johnson was involved with several organizations revolving around gender and sexuality. She was on the executive board of volOUT — formerly known as Lambda Student Union, participated
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in events like Sex Week and served as a Pride Ambassador. “I’ve always been working with gender and sexuality issues with my student activism and coursework,” Johnson said. Johnson said she had a lot of positive memories from UT and wanted to give back in her own way. “There’s an air or aura of personal growth and learning — people exploring who they are, what they can do and who they want to be,” Johnson said. Johnson saw the position of Pride Center coordinator as an opportunity to get more involved with campus’s LGBTQIA advocacy and looks forward to having the chance to help other students, especially regarding coming out or developing further understandings of themselves. “What drew me back to the Pride Center was that when I was here as a student, it was not as funded or supported,” Johnson said. “I always wanted things to be different, and I always wanted LGBT students to be more supported.” Along with trying to reestablish frequent programming and funding for the Pride Center, Johnson hopes to develop better relationships with different academic departments on campus. “I really think that it’s important for the Pride Center and the LGBTQ community to demonstrate that LGTBQ’s issues are or should be everybody’s issues,” Johnson said. “(I hope Johnson) helps the center grow into an office that can be compared to the other SEC schools’ pride centers in a positive light,” Lussier said.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017