Social safety of LGBTI+ students and staff
In the education sector, LGBTI+ students and staff continue to be bullied and discriminated against more than non-LGBTI+ students and staff. UCR considers it important for our students and staff to feel free to be themselves. Nobody should be afraid of rejection or prejudice based on who they are or who they love.
In order to increase the social safety of LGBTI+ students and staff at our university, UCR is proud to endorse the Purple Manifesto. The manifesto is an initiative of Student Pride NL and COC Nederland, a Dutch organisation advocating for the rights of the LGBT individuals. The manifesto focuses on broadening the scope of inclusivity, increasing visibility, organising support and supporting the LGBTI+ community. UCR is committed to creating a safe ‘climate’ for all students, faculty and staff. Endorsing the Purple Manifesto underlines this promise.
Purple Friday
To draw attention to the visibility and safety of the LGBTI+ community, UCR participates in Purple Friday on Friday, 11 December. We encourage all our students and colleagues to wear the colour purple to demonstrate their solidarity with homosexual, bisexual, lesbian and transsexual fellow students and colleagues on this day. We call on everyone to post a photo of their most purple or colourful outfit on Instagram and tag @universitycollegeroosevelt in the post. You can also use #PurpleFriday. And to get you started, you can download a Purple Friday Package from www.paarsevrijdag.nl. This package includes material that aims to colour as many things purple as possible, such as a purple social media frame or a Purple Friday Zoom/Teams background.
If you are a UCR student, faculty or staff member with ideas on how to raise awareness for the LGBTI+ community, or if you’d like to meet fellow students or colleagues who feel connected to this community from time to time, send an email to prism@ucr.nl.