Mei Dennison
Students seeking support can contact the Center for LGBT Education, Outreach and Services at 607-274-7394 or [email protected] and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 607-274-3136.
The Office of Public Safety can be contacted at 607-274-3333 or through their anonymous tipline at 607-274-1060.
On Aug. 22, unidentified individuals threw water balloons and tomatoes at students attending Glow with Pride, also called the Glow Party, an orientation event. Glow with Pride was an LGBTQ+ focused orientation event sponsored by the Center for LGBT Education, Outreach and Services and the Office of New Student and Transition Programs.
According to Public Safety Logs, the incident occurred at around 9:24 p.m. on the quad beside the fountains. Thomas Dunn, director and deputy chief of the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management, said via email that the Office of Public Safety is actively investigating this event to identify those responsible and to understand their motive.
Stanley Bazile, vice president for Student Affairs and Campus Life, addressed the incident in an Aug. 25 email to the campus community. Bazile wrote in the email that while the intent of the offenders is unknown, the affected students believe they may have been targeted because it was an LGBTQ+ focused event.
“There is no place for demonstrations of hate, discrimination, or bigotry on our campus,” Bazile wrote in the email.
The email sent by Bazile states that the objects were thrown from bushes by the Center for Natural Sciences. However, according to multiple student accounts, the objects were thrown from bushes in front of the Hill Center, overlooking a barricade beside the fountains.
The college was ranked as the most LGBTQ+ friendly college in the United States on the BestColleges list in 2024.
First-year student Jasper Wright attended Glow with Pride with a group of his friends. Wright said him and his friends were dancing in a small circle near the barricade when his friend was suddenly hit with a water balloon. He noticed shortly after that his friends were also being pelted with tomatoes. While not hit directly, Wright said water balloons hit his expensive electronics and almost broke his glasses.
First-year student Quentin Chick said they were hit by a water balloon on the side of the head, almost knocking off their glasses. Chick said they did not expect it to happen on IC’s campus.
“That’s kind of crazy that they’re going to be outwardly doing all that,” Chick said. “I feel like they have a false sense of [power] … just because of the current political climate of the world. Certain people think they can do whatever they want and that is awful to think about.”
Wright said he, Chick and their friends were then moved by an Orientation Leader inside Dillingham Center to clean up.
Wright said the shock and adrenaline rush of the situation caused him to have an absence seizure. Absence seizures are small lapses in consciousness and attentiveness that can be caused by stress. Wright said these seizures are a symptom of a medical condition he lives with, this condition also requires him to use a mobility aid. He said he recovered consciousness and motor function in about five minutes but his arm remained stuck in a bent position for around an hour before he could move it comfortably again.
“I hadn’t had one in a while, so it was like ‘Whoa, this is a direct result,’” Wright said.
Both Wright and Chick said they were told by several people that the perpetrators were at least four individuals wearing tight black shirts.
Wright is a queer student and said the college’s BestColleges LGBTQ+ rating was something he considered important when choosing to commit, but that the incident changed how he saw the college.
“That was a big draw-in factor for me … I can start being myself here,” Wright said. “[After the incident], I was like, ‘This is crazy, what if this becomes a common event?’ It just put a lot of anxiety on me again.”
The incident occurred on Wright’s second full day on campus, and it initially discouraged him from continuing at IC.
“I almost called my mom that night and was like, ‘Can you just come pick me up?’’’ Wright said. “I just didn’t know how to adjust and after experiencing that while still trying to adjust, I was like, ‘What am I even doing here?’’’
Wright and his friends met with staff at the LGBT Center and administrators about how they wanted to handle the situation. They said that they requested the Aug. 25 email that was sent out by Bazile.
“It felt like, ‘Wow, the school actually does want to help,’” Wright said. “The college is trying to do something. That’s new for me; I’ve never experienced that.”
Crissi Dalfonzo, director of the Center for LGBT Education, Outreach and Services, said orientation events are sponsored by different on-campus organizations to provide a space for students to find others who share similar identities or interests.
“I’m very much hoping that this is an outlier event [and] that this is not a precursor of things to come,” Dalfonzo said. “Because I don’t think that this is what the majority of our student body stands for.”
Dalfonzo said allyship is important and that cisgender and heterosexual students can still support and make an impact on campus and for LGBTQ+ students. She said micro-affirmations can help maintain and create an inclusive and safe environment.
“Micro-affirmations [are] the small, everyday actions that promote inclusivity for LGBTQ+ people,” Dalfonzo said. “Whether that’s using slightly more gender inclusive language, not assuming the gender of someone’s partner based on what you assume their gender to be and to asking for pronouns and sharing your own. … The more that cisgender and straight folks can continue to normalize that into their everyday [lives], it can help folks feel more comfortable.